Purgatorio
by LadyShiin
Summary: Discontinued: Dark Fic Kenshin is a FallenAngel bound to protect Kaoru's bloodline. When she accidentally frees him all hell will break loose literally.
1. Chapter 1

Purgatorio Chapter 1:

AN:

Yet another new Ficcy from Shiin. This is what happens when your muses are dead, buried and six feet under for a year. Now they've come back to life (kinda like Frankenstein's monster) and this is the result. I wrote this because of my muses pestering me. Well… no that's not entirely true; I wrote this because I had an image of a winged, long-haired, tattooed, dark, and very possessive Kenshin dancing around in my head for a while, but just couldn't figure out a story to put him in. Now he has his ficcy.

Thanks to Ravyn for the beta.

WARNING! This fic is rated M – there will be bad stuff mostly in the area of blood, gore, fighting, cursing etc! And lots of limey scenes of Kenshin gets his way… which he will . You have BEEN WARNED!

Now enjoy!

Shiin

The marketplace bustled. Kaoru paused for a moment to drink it in, the sights and sounds and smells. Vendors called out their wares; off to the side a richly-scented food was making sizzling sounds in a pan. The air was laden with perfumes and spices and food. Everything here was vivid – the colors of the draperies surrounding the stall were a rainbow of color – gold, green, purple, pink, deep rich red, yellow, blue… they dazzled her eyes.

'It had been a good idea' she thought happily. To travel the world. To get away from the memories her home held until she was ready was ready to confront them. Her friends had been uncertain of letting her go alone, but Kaoru had managed to convince them. After the wreck her last year had been she needed to be alone.

Kaoru settled her backpack more firmly on her shoulders and walked into the crush and crowd of people. She felt like a fish, slipping into a current a letting it carry her along, her feet moving independently of her mind.

Pausing by a food stall she bought a bun. A bite into it revealed it was meat, subtly spiced and bathed in gravy. One of the best points of traveling, she had decided was that she could try different kinds of food – that and not having to cook for herself any longer. Sure her inheritance was probably close to nil now (the inheritance set aside for her until her 21st birthday and then another would open up), because of the last couple of months of traveling – most of it gone to food and knickknacks she had sent back home for friends – but she was definitely happier without it than she had ever been with it.

'Not that I'm even close to poor,' she thought darkly. 'My parents stocks are still making money and increasing my bank account monthly. Money was what got me into this mess.'

Shoutarou had been attracted to her because she had money.

She tossed the thought of him firmly from her mind.

Chewing on the last of her meat bun she slipped once more into the crowd of people and let them pull her along.

Curled up in the depths, he stirred.

One eye opened slightly.

Something… he reached out cautiously after it. Something was there… Someone was there… A flash of jewel bright eyes was all the impression he got before the wards caught wind of his power and slammed it back into him.

He cursed softly under his breath.

'How long had it been?' He wondered. 'Since I was let out? A century? Ten centuries?' Drifting in the inky darkness of the abyss it was a wonder he hadn't gone mad decades ago.

He could wait now, he decided. Wait for her to come to him.

Blood called to blood.

She would come.

He closed his eyes once more.

"I'm going to come back home twenty pounds heavier," Kaoru murmured as she rolled onto her pleasantly full stomach.

The inn's owner had been more than generous in her ever increasing portions of food, which she had doled out to Kaoru gleefully. Flat crunchy bread with yogurt dip, lamb covered in spices, some sort of rice-like cereal which Kaoru couldn't pronounce and lots and lots of mint-scented tea and a honey covered pastry for desert. Yasmine, Kaoru thought that was the name of the inn owner. Her brain was far too sluggish at the moment, she felt sleepy.

But not before…

Kaoru reached over to her backpack and dragged it across the floor to the bed. Opening it she pulled out a tattered notebook and pen.

"Poem of the Day!"

Her personal way of exorcising Shoutarou from her memories – write poems. Cheaper than therapy, good for her creativity and she could always destroy them (the symbolism was not lost on Kaoru).

Chewing the ends of her pen, she flipped to a blank page and stared down at it for a brief moment thinking.

She lowered her pen to the paper and began to write.

A few minutes later she put the pen down and looked at what she had written. It wasn't the best she could do, but it would do.

Lies

**L**oving people

**I**s very hard

**E**veryone wears a mask that never

**S**hows their true face

Oh yes, she snorted as she read it.

It definitely applied to Shoutarou.

Sighing, she closed the notebook and tossed it onto the floor, pen following.

"If I could find a decent bathhouse and laundry service, life would be perfect." Kaoru rolled onto her back and closed her eyes.

'Maybe I'll ask Yasmine in the morning…'

She was asleep almost before she had finished the thought.

The night air was cool. It was a counterpoint to the day's heat. One always assumed the desert was hot all the time. Simply not true, at night the temperatures would plummet and even as she stood there Kaoru could feel the air growing colder.

Stood there…. Where was she?

Apparently she was on a cliff, overlooking a plain.

Kaoru recognized it. That was where the town she was now presently living in was situated. But it was nowhere to be seen.

"This is an odd dream," she murmured to herself.

Truth be told, she'd had her fair share of odd dreams the past couple of months traveling. They had started soon after leaving Tokyo but had gotten progressively weirder and weirder the further away she went from the capital of Japan.

Something touched her shoulder and she spun.

A black ball hovered eye-level to her.

Kaoru blinked. 'What on earth?'

It bumped against her chest and Kaoru's arms wrapped around it. It emanated warmth and Kaoru was puzzled to hear a faint purring.

Looking down she saw it had transformed itself into a black cat.

Not, not a black cat…. Upon closer inspection she realized that its fur was tipped in red reminding her of reflected flames. Its eyes were a green-gold, long lashed and slightly almond shaped. She stroked its back and it tolerated her petting, for a few moments before wiggling and leaping out of her grasp. It padded away from her a few feet before turning its head to look at her expectantly. Clearly wanting her to follow.

"All right," Kaoru said. "I'm coming."

It gave a self-satisfied purr and then broke into a quick lope. Kaoru quickened her pace behind it (him?) in order to keep up.

How long she ran after it, she did not know. The cliff she was standing on had stretched into a long flat sloping plain heading downward. Cliffs and odd rock formations rose up around her, interlacing overhead until she felt as if she was running in some long never-ending tunnel.

Night passed by, the stars fading and the first few streaks of dawn appearing on the horizon. Kaoru was glad it was a dream, she had been running for hours after the cat, and had it been real she would have collapsed hours ago in exhaustion.

The cat was tireless, never slowing down. Once in a while he (Kaoru had dubbed him a he) would glance back at her to make sure she was following.

Suddenly he darted to the right and Kaoru skidded slightly as she made to follow him on such a hairpin turn. She slammed to a stop once she saw what it was he was leading her into.

A cave.

The cat suddenly reappeared in front of her and growled softly, eyes flashing.

"You want me to go in there?" Kaoru asked.

The cat gave her a look that could only be translated as "duh."

Tail high it walked toward her, winding around her ankles and purring encouragingly. Kaoru bent and rubbed its ears.

"Stay close by?" She asked.

He bumped her palm with his head in reply and then trotted a few steps forward and sat down patiently, waiting for her to follow him once again.

"Okay…" Kaoru murmured.

Cat in the lead once more she let him lead her into wherever it was that he was taking her.

It was pitch dark in the cage and Kaoru made a soft noise of complaint. She caught a flash of green-gold eyes and the next thing Kaoru knew the cat was glowing emitting a soft red-gold glow.

Kaoru blinked in surprise, "that's it I've seen everything now. A glowing cat… I must have eaten something wrong for dinner. I think it was the yogurt dip. It smelled funny…."

Nevertheless she followed the cat onward.

For several more minutes she followed silently. Then she noticed it was growing lighter in the tunnel and in response the cat stopped glowing. He sped up into a gallop and Kaoru was once more running after him.

The cave widened unrepentantly into a tunnel and Kaoru nearly tripped over the cat that had come to a stop.

The cavern was brightly lit but Kaoru could see nothing that would do so. Looking upward she saw the hard stone dome of the top of the cavern. So no sun was coming in, that nixed the idea it was sunlight.

Looking around she saw nothing. Nothing at first… On the second sweep of looking Kaoru could plainly see a larger ball of energy that the cat had appeared as. Unlike the black ball from which the cat had transformed from – it was a dark blood-red with golden lightning dancing across it.

"What the heck?" Kaoru asked to no one in particular.

The cat gave a soft meow and bounded forward, disappearing into the ball of energy.

"Might as well get to the end of this," Kaoru muttered. "Sooner I do, sooner I can wake up…"

She walked toward the energy-ball and to her surprise as she neared it, it began to glow brighter.

Cautiously she reached out and touched it and it parted around her hand. 'Least I'm not getting zapped by the lightning,; Kaoru thought, attempting to be optimistic. Stepping into it, she felt it encase her for a brief moment. Her body was suffused with heat at its touch and Kaoru felt languid and pleasantly tired. The feeling rolled through her and then passed as quickly as it had appeared.

Kaoru shivered as the feeling left her.

She turned her head at the sound of the cat purring and froze.

In the center of the energy-ball was a man.

'Way to state the obvious Kaoru,' she thought to herself, staring at him.

No it wasn't because she had just stumbled upon an unconscious man floating a foot in the air. She had stumbled upon one with wings. Rather big and black and feathery wings at that. The wings were tied against his back by a thick red band that flashed and sent out sparks.

His hair was red and fell nearly to his hips in a long curtain. It was pulled away from his face but a few strands had worked their way free of the tie. His upper chest was bare except for a pendant he wore around his neck. Kaoru walked forward and saw on closer inspection it was a circular pendant made of obsidian and set against a circlet of gold and rubies ringing it. He was clothed in trousers made of some billowy white material, his feet left bare.

Red bands were wrapped around his wrists and ankles.

She walked cautiously toward him, pausing just in front of where he hovered in midair. Biting her lip she reached toward him, brushing the tendrils of hair free from his face. His was saved from girlish beauty by the angles and planes of his cheeks and jaw.

With the long hair and short height (had he been standing flat on the ground, he would have barely been a handspan taller than she and she was short). A long rather wicked looking scar ran the length of his left cheek from an inch below his closed eye nearly to the end of his jaw.

She jumped when she felt a puff of air across her palm.

He was breathing!

'Well what do you think he was?' She chided herself. 'A statue?'

She placed a tentative hand upon his chest and started as she felt a heart beating steadily underneath her palm.

'I feel like a pervert'. She shook her head and took her hand away.

Her eye was drawn to the pendant and she narrowed her eyes looking at it closely. The obsidian seemed to suck all the light into it. The rubies and band of gold wrapped around it were a perfect counterpoint. There seemed to some kind of decorative scrolling engraved in the gold band. Kaoru took a step forward to see it more clearly and saw that it wasn't scrolling at all but letters that formed words:

Protect and serve.

"Protect and serve," she murmured aloud.

The energy-ball rippled as if whipped suddenly by a wind. The lightening that crackled across it suddenly grew more frenzied. The cat let out a soft hiss and then everything began to shake.

Kaoru yelped as she was pitched forward right into the man.

There was a sizzling sound and the bands fell away from him.

Arms wrapped around her waist and she looked upward to find herself staring into a pair of golden eyes.

"Wha?" She tried to say but her question was cut off as his mouth descended upon hers.

'I found you,' a voice echoed in her mind.

Like dark chocolate, she thought as she tried to pull her scattered wits about her. Dark and rich and definitely not good for you….A voice that could do bad things to girl's hormones…Especially a girl who hadn't had sex in well over a year…When she had decided to go on her little traveling trip Kaoru had sworn off guys. Seemed like that little vow was going to be broken if she let him…

And his kiss…Yeah, her hormones were reminding her quite strongly of the fact that she had not had sex in year… Kaoru whimpered at the back of her throat and in response he gave a low masculine laugh that had her melting…

Suddenly, there was a sharp crack of something breaking overhead and the next thing Kaoru was flung out of the dream.

Kaoru moaned as she woke up. Her entire body felt like she had just run it through a meat-grinder. Her legs were sore… 'Almost as if I have been running all night.' Kaoru pushed that foolish thought away.

Weakly she lifted her head and the room spun. She closed her eyes and set her head back down upon her pillow.

'Oww!' She whined mentally at her aching body.

'What kind of dream was that? I think you're trying to tell me (quite forcefully) I need to get laid. And you has quite interesting ways of dong it (winged bound hotties oh yum). No thanks I'll wait until I get back to Tokyo then Megumi can hook me up with one of her single hot patient guys. So be quiet and shut up.'

"It was the yogurt," Kaoru said. "I get weird dreams because something was off with it. Also I'm probably suffering from some form of food poisoning. Yes, it's all the yogurts fault."

Her problems neatly addressed and sorted Kaoru got to her feet, ignoring the pain lancing through her legs and made her determined way downstairs.

She found Yasmine in the kitchen working away on some bread dough.

"Do you happen to have a bath?" Kaoru asked giving the inn-keeper her best pleading eyes. .

Yasmine nodded and pointed upwards to the room above their heads. Both she and Kaoru spoke English and Kaoru was grateful for all the language lessons her father had made her take when she was little.

Aside from English and Japanese she could also speak German and Spanish and French. Useful to know when you are traveling or expected to take over her parents company. Course considering both her parents spoke four languages themselves – just Japanese was not going to cut it in their household. So they had gotten her tutored and dropped hints about taking over Kamiya Corp someday…

'Hah! Like that's going to happen. It's managing quite well by itself and it can stay that way!'

Yasmine handed her a small meat pastry and Kaoru smiled her thanks. As she ate it she went back to her room and gathered her toiletries, fresh(-er than the ones she had previously worn) clothes, and some towels for a bath.

The bathroom was larger than Kaoru expected. A tub that could easily have fit three people Kaoru's side took up a good chunk of it. There was also mirror and sink and toilet. It was all much nicer than the one she had in her room.

Turning on the faucet Kaoru found the water nice and hot, just right to soak herself in. She sighed as she slipped underneath it and opened her last remaining bottle of shampoo and massaged it into her hair. The heat seeped into her aching muscles, soothing them and Kaoru closed her eyes in bliss.

'Perfect. Now if I feel better I'll go shopping and see if there's anything nice to buy.'

Reasonably happy with the way she had her day planned out. Kaoru got out of the bath and got dressed.

It was still early in the morning and thus nowhere near as hot as it would get around noontime. There was a slight breeze and it was a beautiful day – blue skies, a few clouds and bright and sunny.

Kaoru hummed as she made her way through the markets, pausing every so often to look at jewelry or hand woven rugs or piece of pottery. She really didn't find anything that caught her eye but half the pleasure was in simply looking.

She paused at a jewelry seller's stall and absentmindedly looked over the bits and pieces for sale. She missed it the first time scanning and her eyes widened when she saw it.

It was the same pendant that he had been wearing in her dream.

Cautiously Kaoru picked it up and held it in her hand.

Yes, it was the same.

The very same. Even the wording inscribed on it: Protect and Serve. Kaoru didn't say it out loud; only half-believing that if she did the winged guy would appear in the middle of the market place.

"Pretty yes?" The seller came over to stand beside her.

"I think I've seen something like it," Kaoru murmured.

The seller made a sound in his throat, "nothing like that. One of a kind."

"How much?" Kaoru asked.

He named his price and Kaoru blinked.

"You're not serious."

"One of a kind," he repeated stubbornly.

Not in the mood to haggle and there were worse things the money could pay for… Kaoru pulled out the bills and handed it to him and walked away, carrying the pendant in her hand.

She stopped inside a café and bought some spiced rolls and a pot of thick, strong coffee. Kaoru had a feeling she would be needing the caffeine. Placing the pendant down on top

of the table she stared at it.

How did a pendant she saw in her dreams actually end up existing?

And where was the winged guy anyway?

'Just a dream'. Kaoru told herself firmly. 'The fact that it is the same pendant is merely a coincidence. I've been up and down the market all week I probably saw it before and it just worked its way into my subconscious.'

With that neat and tidy explanation, Kaoru slipped the pendant over her head and enjoyed the coffee and rolls she had bought and gave it no more thought.

Finishing her snack she decided it would be a good time to head back to the inn before it became too hot. The inn was a good twenty minutes walk from the café and Kaoru set off at a brisk pace.

It was several minutes later she felt a chill run down her spine and she glanced over her shoulder. Trailing her quite obviously were two rather tall muscled men.

"Shit. Knew I should have haggled him down about the pendant." 'He probably sicced some goons on me. Yes guys go for the rich foreigner.'

She slammed on the breaks when she saw a man who could have passed for their twin (triplet) standing not too far in front of her. Ducking left she picked up the pace slightly so that if they wanted to trail her they'd have to work to do so.

Another glance told her they had done just that.

Shit!

It took another second for her to realize they were herding her as skillfully as a bunch of sheepdogs. Ducking left had taken her into the shadier part of the town. Shit, shit and double shit. No way out except back to where they were.

Kaoru ducked around a building in hopes of escaping them and came right smack dab into a dead end.

She eyed the height of the wall and contemplated scaling over.

"Knew I should have stocked up on pepper spray when I was in Ennis," she muttered recalling a rather boozy older guy attempting to hit on her in a pub several months back in Ireland.

The sound of the men behind her made her tense.

'Please say they just want the money,' Kaoru thought.

She knew how to fight. Her father when she had been alive had made her take martial art lessons. Kaoru had preferred her Kendo and neglected them in favor of a bokken. She wished there was something she could use as a sword right now, but a quick scan of the alley showed nothing.

Kaoru eyed the men as they approached her. Each was a good foot taller than she herself was and probably out weighed her by least one hundred pounds. Trying to fight them would have some not-so-pleasant consequences for her and might give them ideas of what else they could do to her.

Kaoru was really wishing she had bought pepper spray.

"You want money?" She asked.

One of the men grinned and Kaoru choked down a curse.

"Here," she pulled out several bills and tossed them at their feet.

"I'm just a rich foreigner." She held up her hands in a placating gesture. "Take the money and leave."

"Pendant," the middle one jerked his head in the direction of her chest, where it lay.

"Fine," Kaoru lifted it over her head and held it out toward them. She'd rather lose the pendant and the money than being raped thank you very much...

The second her fingers touched the pendant it began to grow hot and she let out a yelp as it started glowing. Something flickered in its obsidian depths and there was a flash of light that blinded her.

'Hello dream-guy' she thought as he appeared between her and the goons.

The goons to give them credit didn't immediately turn and run. They did pale a bit but for the most part held their ground.

Wing-guy appeared to be ignoring all of them at the moment. He stretched and fanned out his wings and Kaoru thought she heard him mutter, "Finally! I get some action!"

'Huh?' Kaoru shook her head at the innuendoes her hormones helpfully supplied.

'Am I suffering from heat-stroke?' She glanced skyward. 'Well the sun is bright….'

She blinked in surprise as he suddenly spun around, wings flaring, in her direction. "Hello little one."

Yep it was him. Short, red and straight out of her dreams.

"Hi," she said softly. "Who you calling little?"

He smiled, a flash of teeth that made her think of sharks (what was that poem about sharks and smiling?). "You," he purred.

Kaoru's thoughts scattered and became quite incoherent. A voice like that shouldn't be legal, she thought dimly.

Her eyes widened as he suddenly blurred and she found herself encased in his arms. His wings wrapped around her and she felt him dip his head to brush her neck with his lips.

"Jasmine," he murmured softly. "You are Kasshin." He rubbed his cheek against her neck in a movement that was almost catlike.

'Kasshin? What?' Kaoru stubbornly tried to keep from melting.

"Um… bad guys… watching… we're in public?" She managed to grind out.

He chuckled softly and there went any of her previously, somewhat coherent thoughts.

"What would you have me do?" He placed a kiss just below her ear.

"Stop… touching… please?"

He went still at her words. His arms released her and he stepped back, wings settling over his shoulders. "As you wish." His golden eyes were dimmed but still flickered with fire.

"Shall I dispose of them?" He looked pointedly at the goons who were staring at him with pale faces and open mouths.

"Um… don't kill them?" Kaoru asked.

"Now where's the fun in that?" He smiled at them – a baring of teeth – and whatever composure they had been holding onto broke and they turned, fleeing, tripping over themselves.

"Pitiful," he hissed. "Shall I go after them?" His wings fluttered against his back and the look on his face was a bit too eager for Kaoru's liking.

"No… they're gone…" Kaoru stared at him. "I've gone insane. Yep. That's the reason…. Seeing winged-guys jump out of pendants…" there was a touch against her calf and she jumped a foot in the air.

It was the cat from the dream.

"You too?" Kaoru's eyes widened.

"Demon," wing-guy said.

"Demon?" Kaoru echoed faintly.

"His name is Demon."

"Oh," Kaoru glanced down at the cat that had begun to purr. "Why is he named that?"

"Because that's what he is; he's a demon."

"So the cat's a demon… what are you?" Please say a (rather-hot) figment of my imagination.

Any of the smile that had lingered about his face faded. "The bastard son of a Fallen Angel."

"Oh," Kaoru said faintly. She began to feel very light-headed.

'No I won't faint! I won't!'

'Dammit,' was her last thought as she passed out.

When she awoke Kaoru was back in her room.

"Great it was just a dream… I am never eating anything with yogurt again." She murmured.

Then she went still.

Demon was curled up at her head purring.

There was a touch at her hip and Kaoru jumped.

Wing-guy was lying next to her in the bed, eyes open and watching her intently.

"What are you doing here?"

"Trying to get rid of me?" He asked.

"Yes," she replied.

"Sorry lovely, you can't." He stretched languidly and Kaoru was suddenly fascinated by the play of muscles beneath his skin. Yum, very yum… His wings flexed and then settled against his back. Kaoru fought the urge to pet them.

He chuckled and Kaoru tore her gaze away from his chest and stomach.

"Why can't I get rid of you? I can just sell the pendant." Her morning voice was cranky at best at best and being woken up so unexpectedly gave it an extra bite.

"Ah, but can you sell your blood?" He said smugly.

Kaoru bit back a smart comment 'yeah it's called blood donation.' Instead she asked, curiously, "What do you mean?"

"I'm bound to your bloodline. I protect and serve your family." His voice lost some of its smugness and his eyes were bland, void of their previous heat.

"Then how'd you end up the back of beyond in the Middle East? I live in Japan." Her eyes widened as she tried to figure out a reasonable explanation and came up with nothing.

"What year is this?" He avoided the question, he had ducked his head and his bangs were hiding his eyes.

"We're in the twenty-first century." Kaoru said, carefully.

His head shot up and he stared at her for a moment eyes wide. "Fifteen hundred years." His voice was so soft she almost didn't hear it.

"You've been cooped up in that thing for fifteen hundred years!" Kaoru gasped.

Kaoru tried to comprehend it, "no wonder you were so um… touchy-feely." His smile made her wonder if she should run. Fast. Very Fast. Very, very, very fast.

"So what's your name anyway?" She asked desperate to change the subject. Anything to get his eyes off her that way!

"Kenshin," he replied. "My name is Kenshin." He really should not be allowed to have the voice that he did… Kaoru fought to keep her scattered thoughts together.

Topic! New topic! Something to make him stop speaking like that because if he didn't she was either going to jump him or allow him to ravish her silly.

"My name is Kaoru." She made a valiant effort to not look at him as she said it.

"Kaoru," he rolled the syllables and the slight way he accented them made them sound exotic. Kaoru felt her body tighten. Darn, if he could do that with just his voice… What would it be like if he touched her with her permission?

Her hormones were happily offering suggestions and she slapped them. Bad hormones! Behave!

She pulled herself out of her thoughts to find Kenshin watching her. He gave her a slow, smoldering smile that was far too intimate and secretive for her liking.

"So how do I get rid of you?" Kaoru asked.

"You can't. I'm bound to you now." The smugness was back in his voice, along with the purr.

"There has to be someway," Kaoru insisted.

"There isn't. I was bound by magic's that are unbreakable. The last of their kind… I must serve you and protect you and do what you wish me to." His amusement grew as she sputtered.

Kaoru's hormones were cheerfully pointing out the possibilities of such a bond. Kaoru mentally slapped them again.

If this was what she was like after a year of no sex, she could only imagine what Kenshin was after fifteen hundred years. She was surprised he hadn't gone mad or jumped her bones the second he had appeared.

"So, I'm stuck with you." She murmured.

"Yes," Kenshin said simply.

Kaoru could only imagine Misao and Megumi's reactions when she arrived back in Tokyo with a winged guy in tow.

Suddenly she felt very, very tired.

"I'm going to go back to sleep," she announced. For a brief second she contemplated kicking him out of the bed but decided against it. "Good night or whatever times it is." She closed her eyes and was almost instantly asleep.

When she awoke it was bright.

Kenshin had apparently opened the curtains and sunlight flooded the room. As her eyes adjusted she saw him silhouetted in the sunlight. His wings had disappeared and were replaced by a large scrolling black-wing tattoo on each shoulder blade. He had braided his long red hair and it gave her a perfectly unobstructed view of the way his muscles rippled and bunched underneath his gold-tinged skin.

Kaoru blinked as she realized what he was doing. Katas. The movements were both exquisitely graceful and containing deadly promise.

'Well this is one way to wake up in the morning,' she eyed him appreciatively.

Kenshin stilled and looked over his shoulder, pushing his bangs out of his eyes.

"Morning," Kaoru said.

"Good morning," Kenshin replied.

'What are we going to do today?' Kaoru wondered. 'Buy a ticket to some place that could bring me – us – back to Tokyo, for one. Get Kenshin some modern clothes for another.'

"Stay here while I go get us some breakfast." She swung her legs over the side of the bed and got up. Demon gave a sleepy grumble at being woken up and then moved to take her vacated spot in the bed.

Once out of the room, Kaoru felt like she could breathe properly again. Going to the kitchen she selected some food from the generous buffet Yasmine had set out. Ignoring the innkeepers all too knowing look, she grabbed a carafe of coffee, two mugs, and piled her plate high with food. Balancing all of that took some coordination, but Kaoru managed.

Kenshin was sitting cross-legged on the floor, cradling Demon in his lap who was purring loudly as Kenshin's fingers scratched his chin.

"Food," He breathed softly as she entered. He was watching her now with a whole different kind of hunger – eyes locked to the plate she carried in her arms and darting between that and the carafe she dangled in her hand.

"I hope I brought enough," Kaoru set the plate down before and sat directly across from him. She really had no clue how much he would (could? Did? Did Kenshin actually eat food – she hadn't gotten a chance to ask, she'd been too distracted) eat and so she just grabbed as much as she could carry.

Kenshin plucked an orange from the plate, and peeled it deftly. Placing a piece in his mouth he chewed and swallowed an expression of bliss darting across his face.

"I've almost forgotten what it is like to taste food," he said softly after a moment.

"How did you come to be trapped in that pendant?" Kaoru asked quietly, she was acutely aware of the heavy weight of the pendant, resting against her breastbone. She didn't remember putting it on, it had been there when she had woken up earlier.

Kenshin's eyes dropped to it and his mouth tightened. "I've been bound in that thing since I could remember. Its part of the binding they placed on me."

"What would happen if I smashed it?" Kaoru asked.

Kenshin shook his head, bangs falling across his eyes. "Destroy it. Destroy me. The bastards that trapped me also made it so that I cannot take it from you without your permission."

"What did you do to deserve this?" She asked slightly disbelieving. Either he'd pissed someone off or been very, very bad. With her luck it would be both.

"My father raped one of the lords of the Kasshin's daughters and I was the result. She died giving birth to me. Thus I am what I am. The bastard son of a Fallen Angel and a human woman. Too human for hell, too tainted for heaven. And the sins of the fathers shall be visited upon the sons." He murmured.

"I'm sorry," almost without knowing it, Kaoru had scooted over to sit beside him. She touched his shoulder lightly, half inquiringly. He wrapped an arm around her waist and leaned into her, burying his face against her neck. It was nothing sexual, just the need to touch and have someone touch you and know that you are not alone.

'He's been without any type of human contact for fifteen hundred years,' she thought wonderingly. How he had kept some measure of sanity and not gone mad was amazing.

Two days later Kaoru had a car booked to take them the nearest airport that could bring them to Tokyo – an 8 hour's drive in the car. She had also managed to find Kenshin some clothes. Having him walking around barefoot and shirtless – though it was eye-candy in the highest degree – was not acceptable in most societies, her own included. She'd have to buy him some more clothes once she got back to Tokyo in order to give him a decent wardrobe.

For his part, Kenshin seemed to be taking his transition back into the modern world fairly well.

That was until he first met a car.

"What is that?" He eyed the black jeep, belching smoke warily.

"A car," Kaoru said.

"Car… what do you do with it?" He would have taken several steps backward had she not grabbed him.

"You ride in it. It's faster than a horse." Kaoru was glad they were speaking Japanese. Kenshin could speak it with ease. The Gift of Tongues came from the angelic side of his heritage and every language she had spoken to him, he had understood and replied in perfectly.

As it was the driver was eyeing the two of them with undisguised curiosity.

Kenshin seemed reluctant to come any closer to the car, ignoring Kaoru's murmurs that cars were (for the most part) harmless.

The matter was decided however when Demon darted forward and jumped into the jeep giving Kenshin an infuriatingly smug look.

Kenshin muttered something about Demon's mother mating with a hell-hound and walked forward, every muscle in his body tense. He settled gingerly down upon the seats and Kaoru slid next to him.

He was so tense, he fairly vibrated.

Kaoru moved closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder. Some of the tension left his body and he played with a loose lock of her hair. He started violently when the jeep lurched forward and shot a very loudly purring Demon a dark look.

'So far so good,' Kaoru thought optimistically. She just hoped he didn't start running when confronted with his first plane.

Demon crawled over Kenshin who gave him another dark look and settled in her lap. She rubbed his ears. "My life has just gotten very weird Demon." She informed him.

He blinked at her solemnly. _You'll get used to it._ A voice that was not her own, echoed in her head.

_I hope so_, she replied.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thank you for all the reviews! It's great to be back

This fic is rated M – standard warnings apply if you don't like lime, swearing, fighting, blood, gore ect (ok maybe not all is in this chapter but it will appear in future chapters so you are warned)! Don't read.

Enjoy everyone!

000

Truth, Kenshin took to the plane better than he had the car. Kaoru gave him the window-seat and he stared out at the clouds with an expression of longing, shoulders twitching as if he'd rather be flying using his wings rather than sitting there trapped in a plane.

There were only five other people on the plane. Kaoru had managed to get a hold of the only Japan-bound plane for the next six months. As it was, the other passengers in the plane were comprised of journalists and video-tech-type people, who were there to cover some big event that Kaoru hadn't known about. Then again she hadn't really been reading the newspaper much in the past couple of months.

Kaoru talked to keep Kenshin's mind off the fact that he was flying a thousand feet in the air on something other than his own power. She told him of her life and her friends, telling him of their quirks and antics. Misao's obsession with caffeine, Megumi's fondness for sharp scalpels and Sano's goal in life to never have to pay for his own meals; as well as bringing him up to date on some of the more modern marvels like computers and a dishwasher.

The flight took nearly sixteen hours from where they had left in order to reach Tokyo. Kaoru had called Misao's phone number several hours before and informed her of the time they were expecting to land in Tokyo (saying as little about Kenshin as she could).

Kaoru napped during the hours between calling Misao and flying over the ocean to Japan. She awoke to feel Kenshin running his fingers through her hair. A quick glance at her wristwatch told here they'd be in Tokyo in an hour or so.

She smiled at him, "we'll be there soon."

Kenshin's eyes brightened at her but he remained silent. He ran his fingers through her ponytail once more and then resumed staring out the window. Demon sprawled in the empty seat beside her, snoring.

Exactly an hour and a half later, they arrived in Tokyo.

Kenshin clung to her like a shadow, looking around with interest-mingled fear. They had just cleared customs (Kaoru had described what her passport looked like and Kenshin had managed to replicate a perfect copy – only with his 'information' and picture – how she managed she didn't really know – some hidden Angel-talent that he had, she supposed).

Next thing Kaoru knew she heard a high pitch squeal of "There's Kaoru!" and she caught sight of Misao jumping up and down – a human pogo stick – as she attempted to see over the heads of the taller people standing between her and Kaoru. Behind her were Aoshi, Megumi and Sano.

"There they are," Kaoru touched Kenshin's arm and they threaded their way through the crowd to meet the Kaoru-gumi.

"Misao! Megumi! Sano!" She threw herself in each of their arms. A year without seeing them or really talking to them except for the odd telephone call had felt like torture.

Sano whooped and spun her around and she giggled.

"We missed you!" Misao squealed, bouncing.

Kaoru yelped as she was suddenly tugged away from Sano and Kenshin wrapped his arms around her growling softly. She looked up to see Kenshin, tense as a strung bow, his amber eyes flashing and glaring at Sano and Aoshi.

Sano was returning the glare in full and Aoshi was settling for a slightly colder version of his usual glare.

Perched on Kenshin's shoulder, Demon hissed at them.

"Kenshin…" Kaoru murmured softly. "It's ok… they're my friends. I told you about them."

His grip around her didn't and neither did he stop growling. His shoulders were twitching as he fought back calling his wings and flying away with her. Every line of his body screamed a possessive, "mine!" And Aoshi and Sano were reacting to it, not liking it being directed toward a girl they considered a friend and sister.

'Like they were any better about Misao and Megumi,' Kaoru thought sourly. They were just more subtle about it.

Both Misao and Megumi were staring at Kenshin with wide-eyes but thankfully weren't saying anything.

"Kenshin, let go please," Kaoru said softly.

He let go of her but wrapped an arm around her wait, ducking his head to hide his flashing amber eyes. Demon jumped from his shoulder to Kaoru's arms and purred softly.

Megumi arched an eyebrow but Misao stepped toward him with a smile on her face that made Kaoru want to run away. Fast. Very fast. Very, very, very fast.

"So you're Kaoru's new boyfriend," she looked up at him batting her eyelashes in a sinister manner. "You break her heart, maker her cry, or hurt her in any way and we will cut your balls off and feed them to you. Megumi's a surgeon so keep that in mind if you have any desire to become a eunuch."

Kenshin blinked at her and Demon made a sound in Kaoru's arms that might have been called a laugh. Kenshin gave Kaoru a questioning look which she answered with a slight nod.

"I have no intention of hurting Kaoru," he said softly.

Misao smiled sweetly and patted his cheek. "Smart boy."

Kenshin's mouth twitched and Kaoru saw he was trying to keep back a smile. Misao didn't like to be laughed at our thought of as cute. She was vicious when riled and despite her small size she could do a lot of damage.

Apparently Aoshi and Sano were satisfied because their glares lessened in venom and some of the tenseness in the air dissipated.

'Gah!' Kaoru thought in disgust. 'Too much testosterone here.'

The next thing Kaoru knew she felt a shifting movement ripple through her. The room spun and she closed her eyes. When she opened them she gave a start. The hallway had dimmed, the people's features were blurred and indistinct. They were frozen in time as if someone had it a pause button.

Kenshin sighed and buried his face in her hair. Out of the corners of her eyes she caught a glimpse of his black wings.

"Kenshin what did you just do?" She asked staring out through the veil that separated them from the frozen people outside.

"Took us out of the stream of time, Kaoru."

Kaoru closed her eyes and barely repressed a shudder as he said her name. 'He does it on purpose,' she thought in annoyance. "Stop trying to distract me," she muttered.

She yelped as she felt his hand slip underneath her shirt and at the touch of hand resting against her side, made her thoughts scatter wildly.

Kaoru found herself spun around and his mouth came down upon hers. Her mouth opened automatically and his tongue slipped inside to twine with hers. She whimpered, feeling her knees weaken and he chuckled lowly. Kaoru grabbed at his shoulders to steady herself and felt bare skin and silky feathers against her fingertips (where had his shirt gotten to?).

Kenshin purred against her mouth and Kaoru's bones turned to liquid. His fingers skimmed her sides, cupping her breasts, thumbs rubbing back and forth against the peaks pressing against the satin of her bra.

His fingers worked at the bra strap and there was the sound of it tearing and it jerked her out of the haze of lust he had submerged her in.

Kaoru placed her hands against his chest and withdrew a bit reluctantly from his mouth.

"Kenshin. Stop. We are not having sex in the middle of an airport."

Kenshin stilled and she felt him sigh, "then where would you prefer we have sex… hmm…?" He lowered his head to nibble at the conjunction between her neck and shoulder and she drew on all the self-control she had to step away from him. Thankfully he let her go, it would have been so much harder had he not. Like if he hadn't she could easily see the two of them on the floor…. She shoved that thought from her mind.

"Preferably in a bed in a bedroom," she said matter of factly.

"Then tell me how to get to your home and I will take you there." Kenshin cocked his head at her, eyes heated and dark.

"Nuh-uh, "Kaoru said firmly, taking a precautionary step away from him. "And what about my friends huh? Leave them here frozen?"

Kenshin sighed, before Kaoru could blink she was back in his arms, a kiss pressed against her forehead.

"As you wish," he murmured against her temple.

There was that shifting sensation and Kaoru found herself back in the airport. Her hands flew to her hair and she found it it was just fine. None seemed to notice that they had disappeared.

She saw Kenshin smile at her discomfort and she shot him a glare – which only made him smile wider.

"Just wait until we get in a car," she mouthed to him. The look on his face made it worth it.

"…. So Kaoru," Megumi was saying. "Shall we get your luggage?"

"Huh?" Kaoru blinked. "Oh luggage… right… lets go get it."

All the men – Kenshin included – were recruited to carry the luggage. Kaoru had managed to accumulate several new things during her travels; mostly books and knickknacks she knew her friends would like. The majority of them she had, had forwarded to her apartment and would be arriving in the next couple of weeks. But there was still a lot to carry and Kenshin, Aoshi and Sano split it between themselves and in the end it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be.

It was too late for heavy traffic so it was only a twenty minute journey from the from the airport to Kaoru's apartment.

Misao had darted in front of Kenshin so she ended up sitting next to Kaoru and cuddling, a very happy Demon in her lap.

Kenshin looked white faced and attempted to pull himself in a tiny ball in his section of the seat. At her friends curious and concerned looks Kaoru had made the excuse of – "he gets carsick." She wiggled her way over Misao and sat next to him, letting him run his fingers through her hair, which appeared to help him a little.

Kaoru went ahead as they arrived at her apartment complex to open the doors. As they reached her floor level – the penthouse – she raced down the hall to her door and opened it wide, turning on the lights as she entered and holding the door open as they filed in balancing her luggage.

Misao had wondered why Kenshin didn't seem to have any luggage and Kaoru said something to the affect of – "his luggage got lost in Calcutta." Which they thankfully seemed to accept.

Kaoru directed the placing of luggage – "that has things for you – place it on the couch. That can go into the extra room – I'll unpack it later and so on."

The apartment was devoid of dust and bugs and smelled strongly of lemons. Megumi had apparently hired someone to clean it. A peek into her fridge showed that it was stocked with food, Misao's welcome home present.

They ordered from Satoshi's a restaurant that was known for good American-style pizza (something Kaoru had come to love when touring in New York and Chicago) and settled on the couch to watch a movie.

Megumi was snuggling with Sano – discreetly of course – Demon now occupying her lap. Kaoru hid an amused smile – Megumi professed to dislike all animals (the exception sometimes being "that Rooster-headed Idiot Sano" on a good day). Guess she liked demons or just Demon in particular.

The food arrived a few moments later and they all dug in. Kaoru set most of her portion aside for Kenshin who was making soft purring contented noises as he ate. Kaoru. After they finished Kaoru went into the kitchen to make tea – 'real Japanese tea!' She sighed happily.

When she came back she discovered Kenshin had disappeared.

She found him prowling around her library, trailing a finger along the leather spines and eyes narrowed as he mentally translated the titles.

"You ok?" She asked quietly.

Kenshin turned as she entered and walked over to where she was, dropping his head to rest against her shoulder. Kaoru wrapped her arm around his waist and felt him lean into her. She couldn't begrudge him – fifteen hundred years of only his and Demon's company and she herself would have gone mad from lack of contact.

"I'll be ok Kaoru," she shivered when he said her name even though he wasn't meaning to be seductive this time. He wrapped his arms around her and the tension drained out of his body.

"Kaoru," Megumi's voice said.

Kaoru's eyes flew open and Kenshin's arms tightened about her, annoyed at the intrusion.

Kaoru peered around Kenshin's shoulder to find Megumi standing in the doorway with a look on her face that Kaoru couldn't decipher.

"We're going to be leaving now since it's so late. I'll call you in the next day or so once you get over your jet lag." She moved to duck back into the hallway.

"I'll see you out," Kaoru said. She touched Kenshin's arm lightly and he released "Be right back," she mouthed.

Megumi waited for and together they went into the kitchenette. Everyone was seated around her table, holding empty cups of tea in their hands. Except Sano who had his head buried in his arms and appeared to be sleeping.

"Come on Rooster-head," Megumi poked a dozing Sanosuke. "I have the dawn-shift at the hospital, so I need my sleep. You don't have an excuse."

Kaoru glanced at her clock and saw it was nearly three in the morning.

Sanosuke rolled his eyes at Megumi and winked at Kaoru. Smothering a yawn he got to his feet. "See you later Missy," he gave her a hug before Megumi grabbed his ear and dragged him out of the apartment with a quick wave to Kaoru, Aoshi and Misao.

Misao snickered, "we better leave to. C'mon Aoshi. I want to stop off at that new café – you know the one that's selling the extra-caffeinated hot chocolate?" She blew a kiss toward Kaoru, "tell Kenshin we said goodbye."

Aoshi rose to his feet and twitched slightly at the words 'Misao' and 'Caffeine' uttered in the same sentence. Kaoru gave him a sympathetic look.

"See you," she called after them as they left her apartment.

Demon padded across the floor to her and rubbed his head against her calf.

"What do you think of all of this?" Kaoru scooped him back up into her arms.

Demon meowed softly and gave her a satisfied look. Noticing how full his stomach felt she looked over at the carton of pizza that had been left on the floor. She was sure there had been three pieces left in it last time she looked. It was empty now. Three guesses who ate it and the first two don't count.

Kenshin appeared from through the doorway, looking around cautiously "They left?" He inquired softly.

"Yep," Kaoru replied. "Do you want something else to eat?" She asked.

Kenshin shook his head, "thank you but no. I am fine for the moment."

"Mmm," Kaoru murmured. She walked over to the couch and laid down on it. Demon snuggled into her chest, purring once more. Kenshin curled up next to her, picking up a stand of hair and playing with it.

She had fallen into a light doze when he felt Kenshin pick her up as if she weighed nothing.

Kaoru mumbled a sleep protest – what she said exactly she wasn't sure but she felt Kenshin's chest vibrate with silent laughter at whatever it was that she had just said.

"I am not an oversexed pervert. If anything given the amount of times I've had sex in the past fifteen hundred years would make me an undersexed pervert. Also, I have no intention of molesting you in your sleep so your virtue is for tonight – what's left of it anyway – is safe from me."

Kaoru murmured something again and fell asleep the second he laid her down in bed.

'Oh it felt so good to be sleeping once more in my own bed,' was Kaoru's first thought as she awoke.

Something was tickling her cheek and she half-opened her eyes to find a single black feather tucked under her cheek.

"Good morning," Kenshin's breath ghosted across her skin. She was suddenly aware of him stretched out alongside her, his arm thrown casually over her waist.

"What time is it?" Kaoru craned her neck upward to see her clock. Why did she put it in such an annoying and hard to reach place? Oh yeah… so she'd actually have to work to get at it and in the meanwhile wake up rather than just slapping it into silence and going back to sleep.

"It says 'twelve'," Kenshin informed her.

"Noon then," Kaoru yawned. "Might as well get up."

"Or we could just stay in bed?" Kenshin offered.

"Nu-uh," Kaoru wiggled out of his grasp or to be more accurate he allowed her to. "We have things to do to today," she told him. "Like eating breakfast… lunch…. Brunch… whatever it's now called. Take a shower and get you some clothes."

Kenshin raised an eyebrow," or we could just stay in bed all day." Sometime during the night he had changed back into the clothes (or lack of them) that he had been wearing when she had first stumbled across him.

Kaoru's hormones were happily and eagerly supplying the pros and cons of staying in bed all day. With Kenshin. Or to be more accurate the pros, they couldn't really think of a single con. She told them firmly to shut up.

There was a flicker of movement and Kaoru felt Kenshin's arms wrap around her.

"Kenshin don-mph!"

'That's one way to get me to shut up,' she thought.

Kenshin nipped at her bottom lip and she whimpered. She was lifted up and placed back onto the bed. Kenshin made a soft purring sound as he settled himself on top of her. His hand slid under her shirt managing to undo her bra strap and cupped her breasts. The feel of his calloused fingers rubbing back and forth across her nipples made her moan.

Kenshin nipped her bottom lip again and trailed kisses along her jaw line, teeth closing lightly over her pulse point. Kaoru's eyes closed as she felt a languid sort of warmth roll through her body.

Suddenly there was a thumping sound right next to her head and something was rubbing insistently against the side of her face. Kaoru's eyes flew open to find Demon looking down at them with an annoyed expression on his face.

Kenshin stopped what he was doing and was giving the demon-cat a look that had it been able to kill would have had Demon; dead, buried and six feet under in the span of a second with Kenshin dancing merrily upon his grave.

'I'm hungry,' Demon whined. 'And the two of you woke me up. So that means you have to feed me.'

Kenshin made a strangled growling sound and Kaoru it her tongue to keep from laughing. She didn't know whether to hug Demon or give him a kick. Her hormones were insisting on the later.

"Go catch some rats," Kenshin growled.

Demon wrinkled his nose and narrowed his eyes, 'the rats here are too skinny.'

"Kenshin you can't make Demon go catch rats for his breakfast," Kaoru said in a chiding sound.

'Yes Kenshin,' Demon chimed in. 'You can't make me.'

"I can make you into a throw rug," Kenshin offered with a not-too-nice glint in his eye.

Kaoru shook her head and sighed. "Come on Demon let's get you some fish from the fridge."

"He can get it himself," Kenshin muttered darkly, rolling himself reluctantly off of Kaoru.

"How?" Kaoru wanted to know. "He can't open the door. He doesn't have opposable thumbs."

"You chose a cat over me," Kenshin sounded offended.

"True," Kaoru dropped a kiss on his cheek as she got off the bed. "But at least you don't shed."

'Just wait until he starts to molt,' Demon quipped.

Kaoru chocked back a look and Demon leapt nimbly off the bed, easily avoiding Kenshin's swat.

'Foot now?' Demon inquired hopefully, winding his way through her legs in a figure-8 loop-de-loop.

"Sure," Kaoru picked up and they left the room, leaving a very disgruntled Kenshin behind in the bedroom.

"Fish for you. A cold shower for me (and Kenshin but not together) – and I'll order some… food from a restaurant nearby."

In the fridge Kaoru found a can of tuna. She dumped it onto a plate and set it on the floor for Demon alongside a bowl of water.

Demon purred happily as he gulped down the fish.

Kaoru went over to the drawer next to the fridge and pulled out a stack of menus. She plopped them onto the table and then went to the linen closet and grabbed a towel and robe. Kenshin still hadn't made an appearance from the bedroom and so she dashed into the shower.

Once more remembering why she was so happy to be home, Kaoru took her time in the shower. Slipping into her robe, she toweled off her hair as she walked back into the bedroom, to find Kenshin still curled up in bed looking like a disgruntled puppy.

"Go take a shower," Kaoru made shooing motions with her hands at him. "It's the second door down the hallway. The first door is a linen closet so you can grab towels and a spare robe from it. Turn the knob right for hot water, left for cold and the shampoo is the clear bottle and the conditioner is the green one."

Kenshin sighed, eyeing her hopefully. Kaoru placed her hands on her hips and gave him a no nonsense look. "Get clean and then we'll eat and go shopping for some new clothes for you."

Kenshin's face brightened at the prospect of food. He cast one more look in her direction before slipping out of the room. A moment later Kaoru heard the shower turn on and the water running.

Kaoru selected a tank-top and jeans from her closet. Her hair she put into a high ponytail. For Kenshin she found a pair of jeans that were big on her (hopefully they would fit him) and an oversized t-shirt. Not really wanting to think of Kenshin without underwear she grabbed the biggest pair of boxers she had and tossed it onto the pile on the bed.

She gave it a considering look, nodded in satisfaction and went back into the kitchenette to browse through menus. She heard the shower shut off and a moment later Kenshin appeared. He had changed into the clothes she had set out – but had ignored the t-shirt.

Kaoru took one look at him, hair wet and curling around his face, chest bare and started wondering if it wasn't already too late to kick Demon. Heck, she'd settle for tossing him out the window. And then letting Kenshin drag her back into the bedroom… Kaoru slammed a door on that line of thought.

To hide her blush, she ducked her head and slid a menu over to him as he sat down.

"Go ahead and decide on what you want to eat," she told him.

Kenshin picked up the menu and flipped through it thoughtfully. "I think I'll have udon with miso." He decided at last.

Kaoru nodded, "I think I'll have the same and order some sashimi for Demon." 'And try not to accidentally spill hot sauce on it,' she thought, with another look at Kenshin.

She went to the phone and placed the order for delivery. It arrived twenty minutes later. Demon took one look at the sashimi and proceeded to wind about Kaoru's legs, purring until Kenshin told him to shut up and eat.

Kenshin ate with his usual enthusiastic I-haven't-eaten-in-fifteen-hundred-years gusto and Kaoru watched him as she ate.

'What am I going to do with him? – Shut up hormones! He's stuck with me; obviously I have to help him….' She sighed. 'Couldn't even give him away if I tried. Fallen Angel free to a good home! No, that wouldn't work…'

Kenshin paused in his eating to give her a look, "is there anything wrong? You have a look on your face."

"Huh?" Kaoru startled. "No… just thinking that's all."

Kenshin gave her a doubting look but let the subject drop.

"Done?" She asked to change the subjection, jerking her in the direction of his take-out carton.

At his murmured 'yes,' she rose to her feet and began clearing away the cartons from the table and tossing them into the garbage.

"Go put a shirt on please? I'm not taking you out in public without a shirt – and shoes," she added. If he didn't she'd have to bring along her bokken and use it to beat off half the female population in Tokyo.

Kenshin nodded silently and got up from the chair, "if you say so." He pushed the chair in and disappeared presumably back to the bedroom to steal a shirt that would fit him.

Kaoru glanced down at Demon who was eating his sashimi slowly, obviously saving it.

"Does that taste good? Watch out for the green stuff – it's called wasabi – unless you want to burn your tongue out of your mouth." She said sweetly.

Demon paused in eating and sniffed the lump of wasabi experimentally. 'Thank for the warning.'

Kenshin appeared once more wearing one of Sano's old shirts that she he hadn't worn since Freshman year and that she had stolen one day after a incident involving lots of water, soy sauce and a very over-caffeinated Misao.

It fit Kenshin decently enough – a bit long in the hem but otherwise fine. He was wearing the sneakers she had bought for him before leaving for Tokyo.

"Ready?" Kaoru asked. At Kenshin's soft, "yes," she grabbed her purse from its place on the counter leaning against the fridge. Pausing to turn on the TV – to keep Demon occupied while they were gone – Kaoru dragged Kenshin out of the apartment, her mind already centered on one thing: shopping.

Now to be truthful: Kaoru didn't like to shop – for herself that is. Unless the items she was buying consisted of books, CDs and DVDs. Going clothes shopping with Kaoru – with the intent of making her actually buy clothes that were meant for her – would consist of Misao recruiting Megumi and them laying in wait at the front of the door, with Kaoru barricading herself in her room under or in her bed until Misao finally picked the lock in desperation and they dragged her out of the apartment by her ears and frog-marched her into the nearest available car. They usually made sure to buy her lots of chocolate and caffeine-containing beverages as consolation but when Kaoru came home after a day of shopping with them she'd get herself quietly drunk in order to obliterate the memory.

But shopping for someone other than herself was another matter entirely.

To steel herself for the next few hours of clothes shopping, Kaoru made a bee-line for the nearest book store – once again she thanked her real estate agent for finding her an apartment so close to good stores – she dreaded the thought of bringing Kenshin on Tokyo's notoriously crowded trains and walking a very long distance didn't appeal to her.

Dragging Kenshin inside she darted inside and began buying books at a rate of six a minute. Manga, romance, anything that caught her fancy. After a few moments she noticed she had lost Kenshin.

She found him in the history section of the library – the least crowded part of it – looking at books. He'd obviously given up on keeping up with Hurricane Kaoru and simply waited for her to exhaust her book-buying glee.

"Want me to buy something for you?" She asked, noticing the book he held in his hands; "Middle Eastern History of the Past Two Thousand Years," the title red.

"If you would please," Kenshin murmured handing her the book which she placed into her basket.

"Of course," Kaoru said. She selected a general world's history book to add to it and then went up to the counter to pay for all her purchases.

Now came the main part of the shopping expedition.

The Clothes.

Kaoru eyed Kenshin as she mentally prepared a battle plan. Something casual maybe? He didn't seem the type to wear Goth or punk clothes. Her mind made up she dragged him back outside and into a men's clothing store.

The store was almost empty; Kaoru wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not as they were quickly intercepted by a sharp girl even before they had made it five feet into the store.

Kaoru narrowed her eyes. Apparently 'men's casual-ware uniform' for its female employees was 'Sex Kitten-Corporate.' She was wearing a grey pinstripe suit with a tasteful light pink blouse underneath. The bottom half was left unbuttoned to show off her flat stomach. The first two buttons were undone showing off ample cleavage. Her black hair was fashionably bobbed, her makeup light and elegant and her pouty mouth lip sticked to show it off to its best. She had a vapid expression on her face that turned predatory when she caught sight of Kenshin.

"How may I help you?" She crooned her eyes on Kenshin and ignoring Kaoru completely.

Kaoru decided to answer for him because he was looking Shop-Slut with a baffled expression on his face. "We're," emphasis on the 'we', "are looking for some clothes. Preferably casual. 'Why?' Kaoru thought, 'do they have female employees in a mens clothing store?' Her mind came up with several reasons and she shuddered.

"Oh," Shop-Slut sounded miffed. "Is he your boyfriend?"

"No," Kaoru said.

To which Kenshin replied, "Yes."

Shop-Slut raised her eyebrows at Kaoru saw that her tag read Ayumi.

"Well then," she smiled up at Kenshin in a manner that made Kaoru grind her teeth. "We will have to find something for you to wear." She linked her arm though his and proceeded to drag him away.

Kaoru stared after her for a moment in shock. 'What the?' Then her anger kicked in. Slut! Not Ayumi! Slut! 'And I'm going to kill her for pawing at him - not because I'm jealous - which I'm not, but because she's a slut!' Growling under her breath Kaoru stomped off in the direction they had disappeared to.

Shop-Slut-Ayumi had already shoved Kenshin into a changing room with an armful of clothes to try on. Kaoru plopped down on the chair opposite of her glaring viciously as she waited for Kenshin to appear. Least the slut hadn't attempted to go into the changing room with him in the pretense of helping him change - Kaoru would probably have killed her for that. No the bitch probably expected to ask him for his phone number - not that he had one at the moment.

A moment later Kenshin appeared and Kaoru did a double-take. Shop-Slut-Ayumi had outfitted him in a black tank-top that showed off his wing tattoos and (her hormones perked up) tight leather pants...

Kenshin must have seen the expression on her face because he grinned at her. Kaoru quickly schooled it back into a scowl and his grin only widened.

"Ooh," Shop-Slut-Ayumi crooned. "Very nice... turn around so I can see how it all fits you..."

Kenshin obliged her and Kaoru nearly jumped over the space between them to snap her neck at the way she was looking at his butt - 'not like you aren't!' Her hormones reminded but she gave them a vicious slap and they settled down. 'Stop looking at him like that!' Kaoru snarled mentally at Shop-Slut-Ayumi. 'And Dammit Kenshin stop smirking at me!'

"Thank you Ayumi," Kaoru forced a pleasant tone through clenched teeth. "You may leave now. We no longer require your assistance."

Ayumi's eyes darted over to Kenshin.

"Thank you," unlike Kaoru his voice actually sounded sincerely pleasant. "You were most helpful."

Ayumi's lips drew into an even poutier pout, "well then... I'll just go see if there's anything else I can find for you." She gave Kenshin a brilliant smile that nearly made Kaoru gag.

"So how do I look?" Kenshin asked as Shop-Slut-Ayumi left.

"You look nice," Kaoru said stiffly.

"Is that all?" Kenshin said mildly raising an eyebrow.

Kaoru glared.

"Jealous?" He asked.

"No!" She snapped.

"Hmm...," Kenshin murmured musingly, stepping toward her.

"Kenshin back up," Kaoru growled. "You're too clo-mph!" She yipped as he kissed her and picked her up in one fluid motion.

Kaoru pounded at his back with her fists for a few moments and he chuckled against her mouth. Sighing in defeat she melted against him and he purred nuzzling against her neck.

"Mine," he breathed. "You are mine. To protect and serve and take care of."

Kaoru chocked back a snarl. She wasn't something fragile. She could take care of herself. Maybe the women in Kenshin's day had been fainting and trembling little flowers but get a bokken in her hands and she'd show him how much she needed to be protected!

Kenshin kissed his way to her temple and rested his forehead against hers breathing quickly. "I cannot leave. Will never leave you. You're stuck with me."

Kaoru closed her eyes. Too fast. Too, too, too fast! Shoutarou had said the same (well nearly the same) things and look where that had gotten her. An empty bank-account and an empty apartment with her clutching the shards of her broken heart in her hands.

"I don't know..." She felt tears in her eyes. "I can't..."

Kenshin touched her face, forcing her to look at him. The pendant around her neck felt hot. "I am bound to you," he murmured so low she nearly didn't hear him. He kissed again, softly a brief brush of his lips against hers.

There was a soft gasp and they both looked to see Shop-Slut-Ayumi staring at them. Her face reddened and she fled.

"Well that's one way to get rid of her," Kenshin sounded pleased.

Kaoru snorted, "And here I was ready to yell at you for being nice to her."

Kenshin chuckled softly, "let's get out of here before she comes back."

Kenshin wore his new clothes out and Kaoru purchased the others that Shop-Slut-Ayumi had selected. As much as she despised her even she had to admit that she had good taste... Mmm... she purred to herself watching Kenshin walk in front of her. Yes very good taste.

They shopped a few more places buying some more clothes. Kaoru let Kenshin pick pretty much whatever suited his fancy - putting her foot down once when he wanted to buy a purple silk shirt.

"Yes I know that purple meant something different when you were last walking around - royalty and status - but I am not letting you go around wearing purple. It's bad enough with just women I don't want to start dealing with gays following us."

Kenshin snorted softly but put the purple shirt away and chose the same kind in gold.

As they were heading home they passed a pet shop. Kaoru darted inside to buy something for Demon and Kenshin followed her in. She bought catnip and a scratching post and a bed - so he wouldn't have to use hers err... theirs - and a collar, a big spiked collar the kind guard dogs would wear.

Kenshin saw the collar and selected one of his own for the demon-cat - a lacy monstrosity that reminded Kaoru badly of being three years old at a Christmas party... The poor thing looked like it had gone and died somewhere. She only imagined Demon's reaction if Kenshin attempted to put it on him.

They made it back to the apartment in one piece. Once they were inside Kenshin quick as a flash scooped up an unsuspecting Demon and slipped the lace-collar-from-hell around his neck.

Demon froze for a second in surprise then hissed and spat, swiping at Kenshin and raced away to hide somewhere yowling.

"You know he's going to think of something evil to get back at you," Kaoru murmured.

Kenshin nodded a bit ruefully, "still he deserved it."

Demon appeared glaring at them balefully devoid of the lace collar.

Kaoru bent down and scooped him up. "Here Demon I bought you another collar - you'll like this one better." Indeed Demon eyed the black leather and spikes appreciatively.

Kaoru unpacked Demon's new bed and scratching post and catnip to which he took to immediately and curled up in.

Kenshin snorted but went into the kitchenette to grab a take-out menu for dinner.

Kaoru carried the bags into the bedroom and put the books on her already overflowing shelf and Kenshin's new clothes in her decidedly less crowded closet.

Coming back out Kaoru sat down at the table and picked up the menu Kenshin had left out. They ordered Thai for dinner and it came only a few minutes later.

They were enjoying some green tea - the one thing Kaoru couldn't really do badly since she never left the teabag in the water for more than a minute - when Kaoru remembered something.

"Come on," she touched Kenshin's arm. "I want to show you something."

She dragged him out of the kitchenette into the hallway and stopped halfway down it. "Can you grab that?" She pointed to a short cord hanging from the ceiling. "And be careful it doesn't fall on top of you!" She warned as she backed up a safe distance.

Kenshin reached up - his reach was much longer than hers for all of them being near the same size - and pulled. There was a groaning noise and the door slid back and a flight of stairs descended to touch the floor.

Kaoru went first, feeling her way upward and turning on the light.

"What is this?" Kenshin asked as he came up behind and found them standing in a small room with a door.

"You'll see," Kaoru opened the door and motioned him to follow.

"Ahh," she sighed stretching.

This was why she had the top floor of the apartment. Below and around them the lights of the city sparkled. Darkness had decended and if Kaoru squinted a certain way she could make out a constellation or two in the sky.

"This is what I wanted to show you," she turned to see Kenshin staring.

"It's the roof of the building," she explained. You can come up and here fly - we're too high up for anyone to see."

"You're letting me fly?" He sounded shocked.

"Of course," Kaoru smiled. "Why wouldn't you."

"Thank you," he murmured. He peeled off his tank top and there was a flash of light and his wings appeared. They nearly blended into the night, catching the lights and sparkling silver along the edges.

Kaoru smiled, "go ahead and take a short flight if you want."

Kenshin shook his head, "will you come with me?"

Kaoru blinked, "um..."

"Please," he said softly and stretched out a hand toward her.

"I'm... I'm not so good with heights," Kaoru murmured.

"Your apartment is on the top floor of a building and you fly on a plane with no problem." Kenshin said in disbelief.

"That's a plane!" Kaoru protested.

"Are you afraid I'm going to drop you?" Kenshin asked sounding amused.

Kaoru merely glared in reply.

Kenshin snorted softly, "foolish girl." Before she could react he had picked her up in his arms. "You can wrap your arms around my neck if you want something to hold onto."

Kaoru did as he said and squeezed her eyes shut and she felt him walk to the edge of the roof... and jump…

She screamed and felt him laugh. His wings caught an updraft and he gave a flap and the next thing she knew they were flying.

Really flying.

"I am going to kill you for that little stunt," Kaoru growled.

Kenshin merely smiled in response to her threats.

Kaoru closed her eyes again and rested her head against his shoulder as he flew. Cradled like that she didn't know how she managed considering where they were (she blamed it on jet-lag) but she fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Kaoru woke abruptly.

Where was she?

Last thing she remembered was flying with Kenshin…

"I must have fallen asleep," she murmured.

She was in her room again.

But where was Kenshin?

Kaoru turned over and found his side of the bed barely warm, covers thrown back. She paused suddenly and sniffed the air curiously.

Cooking?

Who was cooking in her apartment?

Had it been any of her friends they would have dragged her out of bed and forced her to make coffee. Or maybe Kenshin was cooking?

Kaoru blinked at that thought. "Kenshin…cooking…Oh no!"

She scrambled out of bed and flew down the hallway to the kitchenette visions of the apartment catching fire racing through her mind.

Instead she found Kenshin standing calmly in front of the stove… turning bacon over.

Kaoru blinked, where had the food come from?

"You're up," Kenshin smiled as she appeared and Kaoru wondered what she might look like – hair all over the place and eyes still squinty from being asleep.

"You're cooking…" Kaoru murmured dumbly.

"Yes," Kenshin nodded his head and turned back to the bacon.

"Where did you get the food?" She seriously doubted he had gone shopping and as Kaoru existed for the most part on takeout, ramen and caffeinated beverages…

"It was in your fridge," Kenshin grabbed a plate from cabinet and placed several bacon strips onto it.

"The food was in my fridge?" Kaoru repeated for clarification.

Kenshin nodded again and grabbed a bowl that had been pushed against the wall and a spoon and from the bowl began piling the plate with… scrambled eggs. "It was."

Finally the pieces clicked together for Kaoru.

Misao.

"Misao must have stocked the fridge and put the eggs and bacon and anything that requires effort to cook at the back so I wouldn't see it. Darn her and her subliminal – you can too cook! – messaging."

"Sit down and eat," Kenshin placed the plate containing scrambled eggs and bacon onto the table. Behind her there was a soft ding and two pieces of toast popped up. Kenshin grabbed those as well and put them next to the scrambled eggs and bacon.

Kaoru sat down and stared at the food half-expecting it to attack her. "Kenshin… tell me… how do you know how to make scrambled eggs?" She didn't think that scrambled eggs were common fare during the time he had lived in previously.

"I read the recipe from your cookbook," he informed her.

"From my WHAT?" As far as Kaoru knew she didn't even have a cookbook.

Kenshin picked up a book lying next to the carton of eggs on the counter that had gone unnoticed by Kaoru as she entered the room.

It read: Simple and Easy Meals Even YOU Can't Screw Up.

Misao again.

Kaoru was going to have a talk with her soon.

Very soon.

"Eat," Kenshin encouraged noticing she hadn't even picked up her fork.

Kaoru stabbed the nearest piece of scrambled egg and lifted it to her mouth. 'Here goes nothing.' She thought and took a bite. For a second all she did was blink before her mind began registering – 'scrambled egg… with cheese… very good… when WAS the last time he cooked!'

"How is it?" Kenshin asked, watching her expression carefully.

"It's good. Really good. Are you sure you didn't do any cooking while locked up in the pendant?"

Kenshin shook his head, "none at all."

"So you haven't cooked in about fifteen hundred years?" Kaoru gasped.

"Actually," Kenshin said a bit sheepishly. "I haven't cooked ever."

Kaoru stared at him and contemplated stabbing him with her fork.

Kenshin must have seen the intention in her eyes because he backed away cautiously. "Would you like some coffee?" He asked voice neutral.

"You made coffee?" Kaoru asked. If was anything like his food… "Gimme."

Kenshin obligingly poured her a cup and added cream and sugar and handed it to her. Kaoru sipped it (it was very good) as she watched him bustle cheerfully around the kitchen in a scene that was so domestic it was almost disturbing. Off to the side Demon was demolishing a plate of bacon and settled back with a pleased burp to wash the grease from his face and whiskers.

Kenshin hummed (yes you heard right – hummed) under his breath as he fixed himself some bacon and eggs and poured a cup of coffee before sitting down across from her.

"Do you like it?" He asked, taking a bite of his own food.

Kaoru nodded, "it's very good; thank you."

"You're welcome."

For several minutes they were silent as each ate their own meal.

Suddenly the phone rang and Kaoru jumped to go get it.

"Hiii!" Misao's voice trilled at the other end.

Kaoru winced and held the phone away from her ear, "hello Misao."

"Good morning!" Misao sounded obscenely chipper for this time of day.

"Morning," Kaoru replied.

"So what are you doing?" Misao wanted to know.

"Eating breakfast," Kaoru informed her.

"Take-out again?" Misao asked.

"No, food from the fridge this time." Kaoru said.

"You COOKED?" Misao shrieked in disbelief

"Oww!" Kaoru yelped. "No I didn't cook breakfast. Kenshin did."

"Kenshin cooked?" Misao mulled this over for a minute. "He doesn't seem to be the cooking type."

"Yeah well tell that to the bacon and eggs we just ate." Kaoru muttered.

"Hmm… he might end up being alright after all," Misao mused.

"Is there any reason you are calling me at," Kaoru glanced at the clock. "…Ten thirty in the morning?"

"Well, we've decided to go clubbing tonight and wanted to know if you – and Kenshin – would like to come."

"And you had to call me right now to ask?" Kaoru said in disbelief.

Misao snorted, "Kaoru you take so long to get ready, advance warning is necessary. Plus I don't think Kenshin has any clubbing clothes."

Kaoru froze at the words 'Kenshin' and 'clothes' her experiences with Ayumi yesterday still fresh in her mind. "Um… Kenshin's not really the clubbing type," she said.

"Too bad for him," Misao said dismissively. "If I can get Aoshi on the dance floor, Kenshin will be no problem."

"Uh-huh," Kaoru said noncommittally.

"Give me his measurements and I'll swing by some stores on the way to your house and get him something." Misao said.

Kaoru racked her brain for another excuse, "Misao we're still pretty jet-lagged, and tonight's not a good night."

"Kaoru you are coming clubbing with us if I have to drag you out by your ankles." Misao's voice booked no argument.

Kaoru sighed in defeat.

Misao heard it and gave a cheer. "I'll see you around four. We're hitting a new club at six – it's having a special early opening promotion."

Six sounded early to Kaoru but it meant she could go home early… Misao had probably planned it that way so Kaoru couldn't use the argument that it was too late to go. Kaoru sighed again.

"Love you too Kaoru," Misao said cheerfully. "Remember four o'clock and I'll be at your apartment. Don't try to run away!" She hung up the phone and Kaoru was left staring at a dead phone in frustration.

"Something wrong?" Kaoru jumped as Kenshin came up behind her.

"That was Misao," Kaoru explained. "She's dragging us out tonight to go clubbing." At Kenshin's confused expression she quickly explained. "It's dancing. Don't worry you can just sit in the corner and glower at everyone and I'll keep you company."

Kenshin's mouth twitched at that and he kissed her cheek. "Do you like to go 'clubbing'?" he asked.

Kaoru made a face, "not really to be honest."

"Then why do you go?" Kenshin asked.

"Because my friends like to go," Kaoru smiled. No need to mention that for the months prior to her leaving to travel and after Shoutarou they had attempted to hook her up with a guy every time they went clubbing. Hopefully now that she had Kenshin, her friend would be less inclined to do that.

"Mmm," Kenshin murmured. "So do you want to go?"

Kaoru shrugged, "do you want to go… because I can always tell them you have the flu… or chicken pox… or on second thought, no disease because Megumi will come over to see what's wrong and give you a diagnosis."

Kenshin twitched a little at the prospect of Megumi coming anywhere near him. "We could always stay at home Kaoru."

Kaoru's mind blanked out thoughts winging off wildly in all directions.

"Uh…yeah…could… what were we talking about again?" She shook her head trying to gather her thoughts again. "Can't you just say my name normally?" She demanded.

Kenshin smirked and she huffed at him in annoyance.

"I'll take as a no. Now stay here and clean up – since you made the mess anyway cooking – while I go shower." She turned and stomped away.

She heard Kenshin laugh and scowled.

After a nice hot shower Kaoru dressed and found Kenshin in the living room adjacent to the kitchen reading the history book she had bought him yesterday at the library.

"How is it?" She asked.

Kenshin shook his head, looking up briefly as she appeared, "So much as happened since I was locked up."

"Why exactly were you locked up?" Kaoru asked.

"Whenever I am not bonded to someone I am confined in the pendant." He murmured.

Kaoru twitched a little at the thought of Kenshin bonded to someone else other than her – imagining Ayumi for example with him. 'I'm NOT jealous.' She reminded herself. 'Just concerned. Though Kenshin probably can take care of himself.'

"And you don't know how it happened that… my family ended up in Japan from the Middle East?" Kaoru asked.

"I… I don't know." Kenshin said softly, his eyes dark. "So many things could have happened…"

'Okay Kaoru… switch topics.' "Want to watch a movie?" She suggested. "It's like a moving-picture story." She said in response to his blank look.

She turned and went over to the DVD rack. "Let's see… Princess Bride… Labyrinth… King Arthur… Troy…" Troy might work. It had fighting and Kenshin was probably reasonably familiar with the Trojan War story. On other hand it might give him ideas….

She nixed it.

Aha! Jurassic Park! Perfect.

"We're going to watch Jurassic Park," she announced snatching it up. "It's about dinosaurs… um… really big lizards that lived millions of years ago that end up being brought back to live during modern times – kinda like you." She put the DVD into the player and pressed play.

"Wait while I go get some popcorn made!"

The movie had already started when Kaoru returned with two cans of coke and a bowl of extra-buttery popcorn.

In retrospect it appeared to be a good choice for first time movie and an introduction to the modern world. Kaoru answered Kenshin's questions about genetics and cloning as best as she knew (information coming from her Freshman year Biology in high school).

At least it appeared to be a good idea until the T-Rex decided to attack and proceeded to demolish the cars. She saw Kenshin pale as one went flying through to air to hit a tree and wondered if she'd ever be able to get him near one again.

After Jurassic Park she made some more popcorn and put on another DVD – Stars Wars this time.

"So what did you think?" Kaoru asked when it finished.

"It was good – is that the first one?"

"No it's actually the fourth one but the first three are evil and need to be destroyed so we'll pretend they don't exist. I'd watch The Empire Strikes Back but according to Mr. Clock over there Misao is due any moment."

A split second later there was the sound of knocking.

Kaoru shook her head, "I hate when she does that." Giving Kenshin the popcorn bowl she got up and opened the door to let Misao in.

"Hello Kaoru!" Misao gave her a kiss on the cheek as she bounded into the room, carrying several bags. " Kenshin," she nodded at him as she set the bags down on the floor.

"How much shopping did you do?" Kaoru asked warily meaning, 'how much clothes did you buy and do you have any more room in your closet now?'

"Oh these?" Misao waved her hand carelessly at the bags. "None of that's mine. It's all yours – and Kenshin's."

"Come again?" Kaoru eyed the bags and counted them slowly adding up to seven bags. "When you said you were going to buy some clothes I didn't expect you to mean a whole entire wardrobe."

Misao shrugged, "I wasn't sure what Kenshin would like to wear and I know how you are when you go clubbing. You've worn the same outfit for the past six times we've gone out. So your in due need of a new one."

"And you bought me clubbing clothes." Kaoru said wincing.

"Exactly," Misao picked up one of the bags and held it out to her. "Pick an outfit they've already been pre-approved by Megumi and I so all you have to do is find something you'd like."

"Like that's going to happen," Kaoru muttered but took the bag anyway and disappeared into the bedroom. Leaving Kenshin and Misao alone in the room sitting on the couch to await her return.

She returned several minutes later, frowning but as far as Misao was concerned she may as well be beaming. Kaoru was known for throwing spectacular fits when it came to her clothes as far as she could hear there was no sound or tearing fabric or any cursing going on.

"Ooh you look lovely!" Misao clapped her hands together. "Very nice. Doesn't she look nice Kenshin?" She shot him a glare that dared him to disagree with her.

Disagreement was the farthest thing from Kenshin's mind at the moment, "you do look nice." He said amber eyes sincere.

"Least it's not another one of your S&M monstrosities," Kaoru muttered. She was wearing a violet kimono top patterned in silver swallows with a gold sash that was meant to mimic an obi. Her stomach was left bare over a knee length leather skirt and ankle-high black leather shoes with silver buckles. The kimono top had wrist-length flowing sleeves that would accentuate any movement her arms and hands made, but not drive her crazy.

"Good," Misao sounded pleased. "Kenshin your turn!"

Kenshin's eyes widened in surprise, "Pardon?"

"Your. Turn. Now." Misao told him again. "Take. A. Bag. And. Move. It. And don't you dare return until you're wearing something decent for clubbing.

Kenshin nodded meekly and obediently picked up one of the bags she pointed at. He vanished into the bedroom to change and didn't return until a few moments later. Kaoru simply stared.

Misao had picked out a sheer black mesh shirt that revealed instead of hid what it covered. He was wearing black leather pants that had silver buckles at the knees and a chain hanging from one of the pockets – not that anything could actually fit in the pockets considering how tight it was.

Kaoru closed her eyes and said a brief prayer that they would be able to make it through the evening without having to dodge lust-crazed girls.

"How do I look?" He cocked his head in their direction.

"Smashing darling," Misao drawled. "You look wonderful."

"You do look nice," Kaoru agreed her voice a bit strangled.

"Yay!" Misao did a little dance of happiness. "We've got clothes. Score!"

Kaoru rolled her eyes.

"Now come on," Misao grabbed her hand and started dragging Kaoru away. "We have to do your hair and makeup. Be back in a bit Kenshin!"

Half an hour later they emerged. Misao knowing Kaoru's dislike of heavy makeup had chosen a dark but elegant look that didn't overpower her face or make her resemble a raccoon. Dark eyeliner to bring out the blue in her eyes. Slight touches of glitter here and there and pink lips with extra glossy lip gloss. For her hair she did a simple French braid but sprayed glitter and put two silver swallow pins that matched her top here and there to keep stray hairs from escaping.

This time it was Kenshin who stared when Kaoru appeared.

"You look… nice," his voice was husky.

"She does doesn't she?" Misao beamed. "Your turn buster."

Kaoru stifled a laugh as Misao grabbed Kenshin and bodily dragged him into the room to be made up.

A few minutes a slightly twitching Kenshin stomped out ignoring a wailing Misao to "get back here now so I can finish!" His hair had been put into a simple high pony tail, bangs made messy to fall into his eyes and give in Kaoru's opinion a slightly rakish look (not like she was going to tell him how she thought he actually looked).

"Is she trying to get you to wear makeup?" Kaoru asked sympathetically.

Kenshin scowled and Kaoru snorted.

"Please Kenshin?" Misao begged eyeliner pen in hand. "You have the most awesome eyes. Please just a little bit?"

"Misao if you put eyeliner on him I'm not going to be responsible for what happens. Besides does Aoshi give into you on this matter?"

Misao pouted slightly. "No," she admitted.

"Exactly," Kaoru sighed.

"Fine, fine," Misao sighed. She picked up one of the remaining bags. "I'll be changing now – be good while I'm gone." She bounced away into the bathroom to get herself ready.

"She hasn't even gotten to the club yet." Kaoru muttered softly.

"Is she… always like this?" Kenshin asked.

"Hmm…. Oh no this is Misao being good." Kaoru assured him.

Kenshin winced, "gods above."

"Yep," Kaoru said and settled down on the couch to await Misao.

Kenshin sat down next to her and she caught him looking at her once or twice but he didn't do anything. Misao's threat of castrating him was probably running around in his mind at the moment.

Finally Misao appeared and they were good to go.

There was a line in front of the club but Misao apparently had contacts and dragged them to the front of the line where they were admitted instantly. Once inside Kaoru was deafened by the sound of techno blaring from stereos hidden high up in the corners of the walls. The walls themselves were made of opaque glass that gave back a dimmed and misty reflection.

Silver strobe lights flickered through the air.

"This way!" Misao yelled. Somehow she knew where they were going and Kaoru and Kenshin did the smart thing and followed her, attempting to avoid the press of bodies whenever possible.

They found the Kaoru-gumi hidden against the wall and seated with drinks that glowed neon in the dark. Kaoru didn't want to know what was in them especially Sano's which looked radioactive.

"Kaoru!" Sano crowed getting to his feet and swinging her around, ignoring Kenshin's warning growl.

"Nice to see you too Sano," Kaoru said. "Now stop it – you're just baiting Kenshin and you know it."

"True," Sano grinned. He gave Kenshin a no-harm-done wink and the glare on Kenshin's face faded a little.

"So can I get you anything to drink?" Sano asked as they sat down, Kenshin subtly touching against Kaoru.

"Anything that you wouldn't drink," Kaoru informed him.

Sano pouted, "That's no fun."

"Sano I'm probably going to end up with a hang-over tomorrow morning. I'd like to minimize it as much as possible thank you very much."

"Fine, fine," Sano sighed. "Anything I can get for Kenshin?"

Kaoru glanced at Kenshin images of him drunk flashing through her mind.

"No thank you," Kenshin said stiffly.

"Coke ok?" Sano asked.

Kenshin nodded.

"Sano if you spike it with anything I'm coming after you with Megumi's surgical tools." Kaoru warned.

Sano paled a bit and glanced over at Megumi who was watching him with an amused expression on her face.

"No spiking with anything," he affirmed. "No rum or vodka. Nothing."

Kaoru gave a smile eerily reminiscent of Misao's "good boy."

Sano nodded again and disappeared.

In the meantime Misao decided the song that was currently playing was perfect for dancing and proceeded to haul Aoshi in the direction. They were last seen with Aoshi standing stoically and Misao dancing manically around him.

Kaoru snorted and leaned against Kenshin.

"So… Kaoru," Megumi said in a conversational manner that had Kaoru instantly on edge. "Where did you and Kenshin meet exactly?"

"Um…" Kaoru wracked her brains quickly, "London."

"Really? Kenshin doesn't have an English accent." Megumi observed.

"He isn't really from anywhere. He was an army brat and traveled around a lot y'know – Osaka and California and Germany… he was traveling like I was so we just kinda decided to travel together." She discreetly stepped on his foot and he nodded an affirmative.

Megumi raised her eyebrows but seemed to accept the story.

"So Kenshin where are your parents?"

"Dead," came the reply. Which was true… enough.

"Oh I'm sorry," Megumi murmured.

Kenshin shrugged, "it was a long time ago."

"So Kenshin what do you do exactly?" Megumi directed the question at him and the look in her eyes warned Kaoru not to answer. Kaoru bit her lip.

"I'm a historian. I specialize in Ancient Middle-Eastern Cultures."

Kaoru let out a sigh of relief. Good answer and if Megumi quizzed him on it he would know enough to sound genuine.

"That's an interesting field," Megumi said.

"Yes it is," Kenshin agreed. Kaoru could feel his fingers stroking through her hair, a sign that he was getting a bit agitated.

Luckily then Sano choose that moment to appear balancing the drinks.

Kaoru accepted her Strawberry Daiquiri and handed Kenshin his coke. Megumi was sipping a Virgin Bloody Mary since she had work the following day and doing surgeries with a hang-over was hell and a big no-no.

They all sipped quietly for several moments the music too loud for any real talking. The song changed, a fast one with lots of beat, and Sano got up.

"Come on Fox," Sano said. "This is a good song, let's dance."

Megumi rolled her eyes but got to her and let him lead her to the dance floor.

As they left Kaoru gave a small sighed, feeling herself finally begin to relax. She had been on edge since they had gotten to the club, wondering what questions they would ask about her and Kenshin and worrying over how to answer them and make them sound believable at the same time.

"You ok?" Kenshin asked quietly, if he wasn't so close to her she wouldn't have been able to hear over the music.

Rather than speaking Kaoru nodded and let herself lean against him, eyes closing.

Kenshin stroked her hair and Kaoru felt her eyelids grow heavy. She hadn't been lying to Misao when she said she was still tired from jet-lag.

"Hey!" Misao's voice jolted her out of her half-asleep state.

"Wha?" Kaoru asked looking up to see Misao and Aoshi had returned from the dance floor. Misao looking as if she hadn't lost one iota of energy for all the dancing she had been doing.

Kenshin tensed next to her and she heard him growl faintly. She shot him a look and he quit growling.

"You're at a club Kaoru!" Misao scolded. "A dance club. Get out there and dance. You do know how to dance don't you?" She directed the question at Kenshin who blinked at her.

"No thanks," Kaoru said. "I'm quite comfortable where I am."

Misao's eyes narrowed, "Kaoru dear. You better get out there and dance now or I will make you."

Kaoru snorted, "and how exactly will you make me?"

"Does High School Prom ring a bell?" Misao asked sweetly.

Kaoru yelped, "You wouldn't!"

"I think Kenshin would be very interested in seeing those pictures," Misao's voice was still sugary-sweet.

Kaoru glared, "I will get you for this… one day. Come on Kenshin let's go before she thinks of more things to blackmail me with." She grabbed his arm and dragged him to the dance floor.

"Dare I ask what that was about?" Kenshin asked once they were out of Misao's earshot.

Kaoru shook her head, "no. Don't mention it to me ever." She twitched slightly.

Kenshin shrugged, letting it go and didn't press anymore. "So how do we dance?"

"Anyway you want to," Kaoru replied finding a less crowded spot on the floor and turning around to look at him.

"Like that?" Kenshin cocked his head in the direction of two violently gyrating partners.

Kaoru's face colored, "no. Just dance as you normally would."

Kenshin smiled, "if you say so."

Kaoru yipped as she was suddenly pulled into his arms, hands resting lightly at her waist.

"Just relax," he murmured and Kaoru closed her eye and let herself go with the music.

0000

Off in the shadows there was suddenly a choked sputtering noise.

"What is it?" A voice asked.

The one who had choked started coughing violently. "Is that who I think that is?" He jerked his head in the direction of the dance floor.

Beside him, his companion went very still. "How did the Bastard get loose?" He asked very softly.

"I have no idea but He is not going to be happy when he finds out."

"I don't expect he will," his companion said dryly. "He'll probably shit kittens."

"Speaking of kittens," the other one murmured. "Take a glance at his aura."

His companion cursed violently under his breath, "he's there with him?"

"Apparently."

"This is not good."

"No shit."

"I think I need to get really, really drunk," his companion said.

"Have fun with that," the first one murmured.

"So what are going to do?" the third who had been silent until now piped up.

"I'm all for ignoring him and going along my merry way," said the second making a bottle of whiskey appear and chugging it down.

"It might not even be him," the third said a tad bit hopeful.

"Hmm let's see, red hair, scars, angelic aura…." How many Bastards do you know are running around that look like that?"

"Not… many… none… okay… one," The third ducked his head sheepishly.

The second didn't reply he was too busy starting his third bottle of whiskey. His companions eyed him and started passing around money betting on how much it would take until he was passed-out drunk, which was the intention he was going for, if the rate he was drinking was any indication.

With a sigh he slammed down the fifth bottle of whiskey onto the table. "I'm going to go now." His words were only slightly garbled. Yay for angelic-tolerance to alcohol.

"Do you need any help?" The first asked.

"Naw," he hiccupped. "I'm god… um… good," he got to his feet, swaying only slightly and disappeared.

The first shook his head, "how the mighty have Fallen."

"Amen," the third breathed.

000

"Okay Misao," Kaoru said. "It's ten thirty. We're heading home before the crowd gets really going."

"Fine," Misao said reluctantly. Four and a half hours… that was new record of keeping Kaoru in a club.

They made their way through the crush of bodies. Kaoru yelped as her butt was suddenly pinched followed by Kenshin's snarl and the sound of something breaking. The man who had pinched her was now sporting three broken fingers courtesy of Kenshin.

"Get. Us. Out. Now." Kaoru growled, grabbing Kenshin's had to keep him from doing any more damage.

They got out of the club without any more incidences and paused just outside the club taking a moment to breathe in clear non-smoke clogged air.

"Aoshi and I will go get the car," Misao announced, snagging him and dragging him away in the direction of where they had parked it.

"We might as well find a spot to sit down and wait," Megumi murmured. "Knowing that Misao will be doing more than finding the car."

Sano snorted and wrapped his arm around Megumi who gave him a narrowed-eyed look but rest against him anyways.

Suddenly Kenshin stiffened beside Kaoru, eyes flashing.

"What is it?" Kaoru asked noticing the tension now radiating off him.

"Something…" he murmured. "Someone… Get back now!"

Kaoru was suddenly thrown backwards as Kenshin gave her a shove, hitting the ground with a thump, even as he whirled around just in time to meet…

An angel?

'Yep definitely angel', her mind confirmed slowly. 'Wings and bright glowing sword. Angel.'

A similar sword appeared out of nowhere in Kenshin's hand and there was the sound of a thunderclap as the two weapons struck one another.

"Found you. You bastard!" The other angel snarled.

Dimly at the back of Kaoru's mind she noted his wings were black as Kenshin's were.

There was the sound of ripping cloth and Kenshin's shirt hung in tatters around him as his own black wings erupted from his back.

The two of them clashed movements coming too fast for her eyes to see. The other angel screamed as he went flying back, hitting a wall and lay in a crumpled heap on the ground. Kenshin stalked toward him eyes glowing and sword sending off sparks.

"Who sent you?" He demanded.

The other angel snickered drunkenly. "No one. Go on and kill me you little Bastard." He began to sing in an off-key voice that made Kaoru's skin crawl, she couldn't understand the words they were spoken in a language she had never heard before but Kenshin snarled in fury. The other angels words were cut off as Kenshin's sword flashed and then the angel was still. His body began to glow and then disintegrated into a pile of black dust.

Kenshin's sword disappeared back to wherever it had come from. The next second Kaoru knew he had grabbed her and was holding her so tightly she could barely breathe.

"Kenshin…" she tried to say but her words were cut off as he kissed her.

"Are you ok?" He asked, checking for injuries. "You're bleeding!"

"Kenshin…" she jerked her arm out of his grasp. "It's only a scratch." She growled as he grabbed it back and touched it with gentle fingers.

"Knew I should have made that fucker suffer," he snarled.

"Kenshin…:" Kaoru tried again acutely aware of the fact that Megumi and Sano – now joined by Aoshi and Misao who had obviously heard the commotion and come running were staring at them. She was just glad they were on they were the only one who had heard noise and decided to check it out.

Kenshin continued to ignore her and was swearing under his breath as he probed her for any more injuries. Apparently satisfied he wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in the junction between her neck and shoulder breathing deeply to calm himself.

"Kenshin!" Kaoru attempted once more. "Wings!"

"Oh," Kenshin blinked and his wings promptly disappeared to be replaced by his tattoos.

Misao gasped softly and Kenshin heard it, head turning in their direction and body freezing.

Kaoru felt like finding a wall and banging her head repeatedly against it. So much for 'Kaoru has a normal but slightly eccentric boyfriend ('he's not my boyfriend!' she argued with herself). No, Kaoru has a boyfriend who sprouts wings and fights angels and pulls glowing swords out of thin air, ('he's not my boyfriend!' she continued to insist).

"No," She said firmly, seeing the intent in his eyes. "You cannot A. kill them or B. freeze time and flee with me."

Kenshin sighed, "You take all the fun from everything."

Kaoru stuck her tongue out at him in response. "Now let me go please."

"Do I have to?" Kaoru felt his hand slid under her shirt and stomped down on his foot firmly.

"Yes." She ground out. "Let me go or you are sleeping on the couch for a month and I will be sleeping with Demon in the bed."

Kenshin made a face that would have been a pout on anyone else but let her go – more or less. He kept his arm wrapped around her waist firmly as they turned to meet the firing squad… err…Kaoru's friends.

They were still staring – well in Misao's case they were. Megumi was giving Kenshin a calculating look, Sano just looked puzzled and Aoshi kept his face carefully blank, though Kaoru noticed one of his eyebrows were twitching.

"So…" Megumi drawled. "I take it you are not a Historian?"

"No," Kenshin said softly. "I'm a Fallen-Angel."

"Yeah," Misao murmured. "I think the black wings gave that away."

"Can we please not talk about it here?" Kaoru asked.

"Ok then," Misao said brightly. "You're place then."

Kaoru sighed; it was going to be a long, long night.

000

The second they walked in the door they Demon raced to meet them. He paused a few feet in front of Kenshin, eyes narrowing in an entirely un-catlike manner and gave a soft hiss.

'You smell like blood and death.'

"Kaoru…" Misao asked softly. "Why is your cat talking?"

Demon turned to look them at them. 'Demon! I am a Demon!'

"Oh so that explains it," Misao said faintly.

"What does?" Kaoru moved over the couch and collapsed upon it. Demon jumped up beside her and curled up in her lap. Kenshin sat down gingerly next to her and played with her hair.

"I was wondering why Megumi wasn't breaking out in hives when she was petting him last time we were here." Misao said grabbing a chair as the others took seats.

"Huh?" Kaoru asked blankly.

"I'm allergic to cats. I get hives," Megumi muttered.

"Sano bought her one as some kind of 'relationship pet'." Misao explained.

Sano began whistling nonchalantly under his breath.

The image of Megumi covered in hives made Kaoru laugh.

"I just thought Demon was some type of hypoallergenic cat," Megumi eyed Demon warily.

"Nope not a cat he's a Demon." Kaoru confirmed. 'Only Megumi'…

"So?" Misao propped her chin on her hand. "How did the two of you meet anyway? I'm pretty sure it wasn't chatting over coffee in London."

Kaoru sighed, "bougthanenchantedamuletandoutpoppedKenshin." She muttered.

Megumi raised an eyebrow, "excuse me?"

Kaoru sighed, "Bought an enchanted amulet and as it ends up Kenshin was imprisoned in it." She didn't want to mention anything about her dream of him.

"Oh," Misao blinked. "Really?"

"Yes, really." Kaoru touched the pendant she wore around her neck. "This one."

"So you were trapped in it?" Sano looked at Kenshin who nodded.

"For how long?" Misao asked.

"Fifteen hundred years," Kenshin said softly.

For a second all they did was staring at the two of them while Kaoru squirmed.

"...And how old are you exactly?" Misao asked faintly.

Kenshin frowned, "almost two thousand years."

"Wow, Kaoru. I knew you liked older men but I didn't know you liked them that old!" Sano joked.

Kaoru and Kenshin both glared at him while Megumi smacked him.

"Shut up rooster head."

"It was a joke!" Sano rubbed at the side of his head.

"Not a funny one." Megumi whapped him again.

"And where did you get Demon?" Misao asked.

'I was imprisoned with him,' Demon replied.

"Ah, ok then." Misao closed her eyes and leaned against Aoshi looking tired as she attempted to process all of this. "Only you would go off traveling the world and come back with an angel in tow Kaoru."

Kaoru snorted, "Tell me about it."

"So why was guy attacking you anyway Kenshin?" Sano asked, moving carefully out of Megumi's reach.

"I don't know..." Kenshin said softly. "He wasn't after Kaoru. He was after me."

"Why would they be after me?" Kaoru asked.

Kenshin's jaw clenched. "You're family isn't very well liked among the celestial beings."

"What did my ancestors do?" Kaoru asked. "Run over a cartload of nuns?"

"One of the nicknames of the Kasshin are the Angel-Killers." Kenshin murmured. "I had assumed because I had been so long trapped in the pendant that your family had been wiped out completely."

Kaoru shuddered and Kenshin stroked her hair.

"So what's going to happen now?" Kaoru asked after a moment. "Will we start getting attacked?"

"I'm not sure," Kenshin said. "Angels usually work in groups of threes and he was working alone or so he appeared to be. He was drunk also."

Sano stared at Kenshin, "angels can get drunk?"

"It's difficult; the amount of alcohol an angel would consume to get a bit... tipsy… would kill a normal human."

Sano was giving Kenshin an interested look.

"No Sano you have not just found your new drinking buddy." Kaoru muttered.

Sano gave her a grumpy look, "you're no fun."

Kaoru sighed, "Anything else you want to grill us on? I'm still jet-lagged and it's past midnight..."

"We'll be going now," Aoshi said speaking for the first time.

Misao yawned and nodded. "I'll call you tomorrow so we can go get coffee and have girl talk."

Kaoru twitched, "no shopping."

Misao saluted, "no shopping promise. Only girl talk."

That was nearly as bad.

"Fine," Kaoru said. "Just call after noon ok?"

"Deal," Misao smiled.

"We'll be going as well," Megumi said. "Come on Sano. I still have to work tomorrow and five hours of sleep looks like all I'm going to be getting – if that."

Sano nodded, "call us if anything happens."

Kaoru nodded, "I will."

"Good," he gave Kenshin a look. "You better take care of her."

"I will," Kenshin assured him.

Reasonably satisfied Megumi and Sano left right behind Aoshi and Misao.

Kaoru covered a yawn. "I'm going to bed. Let me get all glitter and makeup off my face." She touched Kenshin's arm and got to her feet heading toward the bathroom.

Demon turned and looked at Kenshin. 'You didn't tell her everything.'

'I told her only what she needed to know.'

'Don't keep secrets from her Kenshin. She'll find out sooner or later. Most likely sooner.'

'I know,' Kenshin replied. 'That's what I'm afraid of.'


	4. Chapter 4

Here's Chapter 4! As I've said before this is a rated M fic so it will have rated M stuff in it. So you are warned! Thanks to Amaranth Adanae for betaing!

Enjoy!

Shiin

Kaoru woke alone in bed once again. She rolled over and her hand touched something that crinkled loudly. A piece of paper.

Blinking, she picked it up and read it:

_Kaoru, _

_I've gone for a short flight. I will be back soon. _

_I made breakfast. _

_Kenshin _

Kaoru folded the piece of paper and laid it back down on the bed.

"How did she end up with Kenshin again?" she wondered. He was almost too perfect to be true, and Kaoru knew no one was that perfect. "Don't go looking for trouble," she scolded herself.

"Fine," she muttered out loud. "Breakfast, and then a shower."

Pushing back the covers, she got out of the bed and padded down the hall to the kitchenette.

She found Demon sunning himself on a patch of floor underneath the window. He opened an eye as she appeared.

"Kenshin made breakfast," he informed her.

"I know," Kaoru replied. "He left a note."

"It should still be hot. He's only been gone a few minutes." Demon closed his eyes and went back to enjoying the sun.

There was a covered plate on the stove, and Kaoru picked it up and peered underneath it cautiously.

Crepes.

Crepes topped with strawberries, whipped cream, and a tiny slice of orange, blueberries ringing the edges. Kaoru had seen restaurant presentations less fancy that this. She didn't remember the fruit, and guessed that, once again, Misao had hidden it at the back of the fridge and Kenshin had found it.

"Is he always like this?" She directed the question toward Demon.

"Hmm?" Demon asked absentmindedly without opening his eyes.

"So bloody thoughtful it's almost unnerving," Kaoru said.

"Kenshin? Yes he is. You better be getting used to it. He also made some coffee before leaving."

Kaoru contemplated pouring it down the sink and making her own in an act of independence, but decided against it. Kenshin did make better coffee than she did, and it was a sin to throw out good coffee.

She picked up the plate and set it on the table, grabbed a fork and knife from the drawer, and poured herself a cup of coffee. She stabbed a blueberry, only a tad viciously, and popped it into her mouth.

"What's the matter?" Demon raised his head to give her a curious look.

"Nothing," Kaoru replied.

"Uh-huh," Demon said, not sounding at all convinced.

"Kenshin's so bloody perfect it's driving me crazy. Cooks better than I can, saves me from big bad angels – and I can damn well take care of myself! – and is alternately sexy as all hell, or really sweet. You know, a little imperfection is nice sometimes." She took a sip of her coffee, finished ranting.

'Well, next time Kenshin cooks I will inform him to burn the toast to a crisp," Demon said dryly. "Will that help?"

"It's a start," Kaoru cut a piece of crepe and took a bite. The stupid thing nearly melted in her mouth and she gave an aggravated growl.

'Any other reason for the bad temper?' Demon inquired.

"It's a Wednesday. I hate Wednesdays."

"Oh why is that?"

"They're bad luck for me," Kaoru replied.

"How so?"

"My parents died on a Wednesday," she said. _And Shoutarou left me on a Wednesday_, she thought to herself. "I usually stay in bed and don't leave the house on Wednesdays, because invariably something bad happens."

"And so why aren't you still holed up in bed on a Wednesday?" Demon asked.

"Stupid jet-lag and time differences," Kaoru muttered. "Thought it was a   
Tuesday, but nope, it's a Wednesday."

"Ah," Demon said, and closed his eyes once more. "Well, hopefully you'll  
survive the day."

"Aren't you just so optimistic?" Kaoru asked.

"No more than you," was his reply.

'Touché," Kaoru conceded, and proceeded to demolish the rest of her crepes and  
fruit.

Once she finished, she tossed the plate and cutlery into the dishwasher—

Kenshin had apparently emptied it too, she noticed.

"I'm taking a shower," she announced to Demon, who had moved from his  
sunbathing spot to curl up in on the couch.

Demon didn't feel he needed to reply to that, and decided it would be good  
time for a catnap.

Kaoru sighed as eased herself into the shower. Hot water, shampoo and  
conditioner, a razor… "Oh how I missed thee. All a girl needs to feel good is hot  
water, jasmine oil and a box of chocolates and viola! Instant bliss." Kaoru  
reminded herself to make a date with her bathtub and chocolate later on the week.

Kaoru turned off the water and reached to grab a towel.

She frowned; apparently she'd forgotten one for her hair.

Shrugging, she wrapped the one she did have around herself and slipped out of  
the bathroom to grab a towel from her hair.

And to her annoyance she found there were no towels left in the linen closet.

"Knew I had forgotten to do something: Laundry!" she muttered as she stalked  
to the laundry room at the back of her apartment.

She opened the door and blinked.

Apparently, Kenshin had come back from flying while she was in the shower.

"Kenshin… are you doing… laundry?" she asked faintly.

Kenshin jumped a bit and whirled around at the sound of her voice.

"I noticed there were no towels in the closet and…." his voice trailed off as  
he looked at her, his amber eyes suddenly sharp and… hungry. Kaoru had a  
vision of how she looked— clad in only a towel that could barely be considered   
decent, with her heart wet and curling around her face and shoulders. Suddenly,  
she felt like slamming the door and running into her room and staying there for  
the rest of the day.

"Oh hells," she thought nervously.

"Um… well… I'll be in the bedroom then…" 'Crap! Did that just sound like  
invitation?' She backed out of the door hastily. "I'll see you later then. Bye!"

She turned to leave and froze as she felt him touch her wrist. 'How did he  
move so fast?'

"Kaoru," he murmured, his voice husky.

Kaoru closed her eyes and fought back a whimper, frozen in her tracks.  
"Dammit. I'll make him call me 'Kaoru-dono' maybe that'll have less affect one m  
than just plain 'Kaoru'." She thought dimly.

She caught her breath as he trailed his fingertips from her wrist, along her  
arm over her bare shoulder, and, feather-light, over the skin of her neck,  
stopping to cradle the base of her skull. Kenshin dipped his head to lay a gentle  
kiss over the pulse on her neck and she felt her knees weaken.

One arm snaked around her waist, holding her against him as he grazed her  
neck with his teeth, and Kaoru choked back a whimper.

"Please…" she didn't know what she was asking for. For him to stop, for him  
to continue… her brain had stopped functioning completely the second he had  
said her name.

Kenshin turned her to face him and kissed her, gently at first, but then with  
a single-minded desperation that made her tremble. He broke the kiss and  
trailed his lips along her jaw line back down to her throat, nipping at the soft  
skin just above her pulse. Biting hard, and then laving the spot gently with his  
tongue, soothing away the pain.

Kaoru was acutely aware that she was wearing a towel with nothing underneath,  
and one slip of it she would be naked… and her mind stopped processing after  
that thought…

Kaoru reached up and tangled her hands in his hair, pulling his mouth back to   
hers.

"Want you," he breathed softly against her mouth.

Kaoru whimpered something in reply. She didn't know what it was that she said  
but it was a 'yes' however it came out.

Kenshin smiled against her mouth, and Kaoru felt herself being picked up.

"Where?" she asked softly.

"Well the couch is closer, but I think you'd prefer a bed."

Kaoru glared at him. "And how are you thinking at a moment like this, exactly?"

"Haven't a clue," he replied cheerfully, capturing her mouth once again. 

Somehow, Kenshin maneuvered the two of them down the hallway and into her  
bedroom, nudging open the door with a foot.

He walked across the room and laid her down upon the bed, and Kaoru saw  
herself reflected in his eyes: black hair spread across the sheets, lips swollen  
from kisses, eyes dark… she felt her body tighten.

"Come here," she murmured.

Kenshin eyes flickered, and he ducked his head, bangs falling across his eyes.  
"Are you certain?" he asked, his voice a whisper. 

"Yes," she said, her voice equally as hushed.

Kenshin placed his hands on the bed and crawled over to her. Muscles rippling  
underneath his skin—had he been wearing a shirt or had he lost it? Kaoru  
found she couldn't remember—the movements so innately seductive and sensual that  
she bit back a moan.

Kaoru grabbed a handful of hair and pulled his mouth down to hers. Kenshin  
straddled her, his arms bracing on either side of her head, and she writhed against him.

Why was he taking it so damn slowly? _How_ in hell was he taking it so damn  
slowly! He hadn't had sex in fifteen hundred years! Kaoru was half-expecting him  
to suddenly rip the towel from her body and do her right there.

Obviously, he had other plans.

"I'm in no hurry," his lips curved into a smile, clearly reading the thoughts  
in her eyes. He brushed his lips over her neck, tongue flicking out to trace   
the curve of her collarbones. He suddenly paused and buried his face against  
her neck breathing her scent deep.

"Touch me," Kaoru said softly.

Kenshin's amber eyes were dark. "Where?"

"Anywhere," she wanted to say. "Everywhere."

Kaoru's eyes fluttered closed as he gently traced the shape of her face with  
a finger, following the arch of her eyebrows… the curve of her cheekbones…  
across her lips… She nipped at his finger and he laughed the sound low and  
sending shivers through her.

His finger trailed over her neck, dipping in the v-shaped hollow at the base  
of her throat. Kaoru felt like a line of fire was following the trail of his  
touch and made a soft hungry sound.

Kenshin laughed again, and kissed her, and she melted against him.

"Now," she said. "Please, now." She felt like she would go mad if she couldn't  
feel him, all of him. His skin against hers… his mouth and tongue… She   
wanted him, every bit of him…in her, against her, there with her….

"Yes," Kenshin's voice was a purr, and it took all of Kaoru's restraint not to  
pounce him.

He kissed her again once more, both hungry and sweet at the same time. When  
he pulled away, it was Kaoru who was purring. She felt his hand ghost along her  
towel-covered side, slipping to undo the knot that held it closed….

"Hello! Kaoru? Kenshin?"

"Shit!" both of them said in unison.

Misao.

Kaoru gave a frustrated glance at the clock. It read eleven thirty.

"She better have a damn good reason for coming early," Kaoru seethed.

"Are you sure she doesn't have a death wish?" Kenshin's eyes were nearly black.

"I'm really starting to wonder," Kaoru muttered darkly.

"HELLO!" Misao's voice rang through the apartment. "Kaoru, you better not  
have run away!"

"I. Am. Going. To. Kill. Her." Kenshin snarled.

Kaoru shook her head. "Aoshi would kill you and I'd like to keep you alive  
thank you very much. Will you go out there and keep her company while I get  
dressed. And no maiming her."

Kenshin gave a longing look, but shook his head and grumbled something under  
his breath. "Can I tie her up?"

"No, that falls under the category of maiming her."

"KAORU?" Misao's voice sounded closer.

Kaoru cursed eloquently under her breath. She'd die before letting Misao  
barge in on her dressed as she was.

"Get out there and distract her," she gave Kenshin a shove off of her. "I'll  
be out in a moment."

Kenshin sighed and raked a hand through his bangs. With a visible show of  
effort, he turned and walked out of the bedroom closing the door firmly behind  
him.

Kaoru closed her eyes and let out a deep breath.

'Kaoru what are you doing?' Kaoru asked herself.

'Isn't it obvious?' Kaoru's-self answered back.

'Painfully so,' she agreed.

'Well then, what do you propose we do about it?'

'We can't do anything. It's too late to fall out of love.'

000

"Oh, there you are," Misao said, as Kenshin appeared. She was sitting on the couch with Demon curled in her lap, petting him.

She peeked over his shoulder. "Is Kaoru here?"

"Yes," Kenshin replied, his voice clipped.

"Good, I had thought she'd run away," Misao muttered.

"How did you get in?" Kenshin asked.

Of Demon, he asked, "Why did you let her in?"

"I was asleep," Demon replied, giving a very convincing yawn.

"Sure you were," Kenshin glared.

"The door was unlocked," Misao said.

Kenshin looked at her. He was sure the door had been locked last when he came in last night, and since he used the trap door up to the roof, he hadn't used it.

So it hadn't been him who'd unlocked it.

He gave Demon a questioning glance.

"Like I can open the door, Kenshin," Demon said sarcastically. "No opposable thumbs remember?" He flexed his claws to prove his point. "I can walk through it, but I can't manually open it."

"Point," Kenshin conceded.

"Oh, Kaoru, there you!" Misao said.

Kenshin looked over his shoulder to see Kaoru appear, her hair tied up in a messy bun and a pair of jeans and a t-shirt thrown on.

Never let it be said Misao wasn't smart. She glanced back and forth between the two of them, taking in Kaoru's frazzled appearance and Kenshin's short temper. And she put two and two together quite quickly. The rather large hickey on Kaoru's neck helped her thought processes somewhat.

"Did I, um... interrupt something?" She asked softly.

Kaoru sighed, "Why are you here so early? I said after noon. Not eleven thirty. Not twelve. _After_ twelve."

'I'll take that as a yes,' Misao thought to herself, noticing how Kaoru had dodged the question.

"Have you eaten breakfast?" she asked.

Kaoru nodded. "Yes, Kenshin made it."

Misao blinked at him. "You made breakfast?"

"Yes," Kenshin replied.

"Well... anyway. Let's go to a nice cafe for coffee. Is that okay?"

"Fine," Kenshin said.

"We'll bring you back something, Demon," Misao gave his head one last pat before rising.

Demon watched the trio leave and didn't move for a moment.

Kenshin hadn't expected a thing. He'd been alternately too absorbed in Kaoru and too angry at Misao to sense anything properly. Sloppy...Kenshin...very sloppy... and stupid too…

Demon's lips curled. Of all things, he detested stupidity the most, and Kaoru and Kenshin weren't acting like the brightest bulbs in the box at the moment.

Slowly and thoroughly, he concentrated on erasing all angelic aura from the apartment. Kenshin would never know, and that might end up being a good thing.

Demon had been sleeping when he first sensed the angel outside the door. Quickly, he had slipped into the shadows under the bed and cloaked his aura. In his current form, he was powerless.

The angel was a Fallen one, and Demon bared his teeth taking in his appearance.

Hair the color of sapphires tied back in a high ponytail, and the distinctive golden eyes that marked all Fallen as what they were - Fallen-Angels. Dressed in a business suit, he scanned the apartment with apparent interest. His head cocked in the direction of the bedroom, and Demon choked back a snarl.

Shrugging, the Fallen-Angel made a circuit of the room, examining everything closely but not touching any of it, for fear of leaving an imprint that could be traced. Eyes narrowed, he walked out of the apartment and the door closed behind him.

Demon had barely gotten out from under the couch when Misao had knocked on the door and bounded into the apartment, finding it unlocked.

000

The café was packed with people, most of whom were in the line trailing out the door, just there to grab a coffee and go. There was an empty booth, and Misao pushed through the crowd to snag it.

"Kenshin, go get us something to drink," she ordered, pulling out several bills and tossing them to him.

"Misao… the line is going halfway down the block…" Kaoru's voice trailed off as Misao shot her a look.

Oh right… girl talk…

Kaoru sighed.

"Kenshin, will you please go get us something to drink? I'd like a Chai latte, and Misao will take a French Vanilla Cappuccino. You can get whatever you like for yourself. Oh! And a blueberry muffin, please."

Kenshin looked back and forth between the two of them, and then gave a slight nod, disappearing through the crowd and out the door to stand in line.

"So," Misao propped her chin upon her hand. "Spill. Everything. Now."

"Like what?" Kaoru asked.

Misao made an exasperated sound. "Like everything! How serious are you about him? Should Megumi and I be breaking out the knives? Should I sic Aoshi on him? Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera!"

Kaoru chewed her lip.

"Okay," Misao blew out an exasperated breath. "It appears I'm going to have to go digging for the answers. Let's play twenty questions. One, are you serious about him?"

"Yes," Kaoru murmured.

"Okay… number two: does he love you?"

"Yes… I think so…. Yes," Kaoru nodded.

"Good," Misao sounded pleased. "Is anything like rat-bastard Shoutarou?"

"No!"

"Even better," Misao's eyes glittered nastily.

"Whatever happened to Shoutarou, anyway?" Kaoru asked, a tad bit warily.

Misao shrugged. "Apparently, he took your money and booked the fastest plane to New Zealand, from what Aoshi can gather."

Kaoru flinched.

"Different topic, then... How did you and Kenshin meet? Did he really just appear out of nowhere from that pendant you're wearing around your neck?"

"Yes," Kaoru touched it gently.

"It's nice." Misao's eyes narrowed and she leaned closer. "What do all those squiggly lines on it mean?"

"Protect and Serve," Kenshin said from behind them.

Misao jumped, a bit guiltily, and gave him a smile. "Oh! You bought the drinks!" She swiped them out of his hands and gave Kaoru's hers, knowing which was which by the smell. Taking a big gulp, she leaned back against the wall and sighed happily.

Kenshin shook his head and sat down beside Kaoru, wrapping an arm lightly around her waist.

"Why can't Misao read what the pendant says?" Kaoru asked softly.

"Only descendants of the Kasshin bloodline can," Kenshin explained.

"Ah." Kaoru took a sip of her chai latte.

"Kenshin!" Misao wailed suddenly. "You forgot the blueberry muffins!"

"What?" Kenshin asked looking confused.

"Kaoru, go get the muffins since he forgot them."

"Why do I have to go?"

Misao stuck her tongue out. "Because he's your boyfriend and he forgot them, that's why."

Somehow, it made sense.

"Fine," Kaoru took the money Misao offered her and went to go get the muffins, cursing under her breath as the line seemed to have expanded.

"So…" Misao drawled, arching an eyebrow at Kenshin, "Alone at last."

Kenshin looked at her.

Misao smiled. "Don't worry. I don't bite."

"Could have fooled me," Kenshin muttered not sounding at all convinced.

Misao laughed, and took another gulp of her cappuccino.

Kenshin eyed the small white cup in her hands a bit nervously. Suddenly, he was getting the feeling that caffeine and Misao were not a good combination at all.

"Question time for you," Misao announced.

Kenshin blinked. "Pardon?"

"You're dating my best friend, so I have to make sure you're worthy."

"Uh-huh," Kenshin said.

"You promise to be good to her?" Misao asked.

'Didn't I already say that?' Kenshin wondered. Out loud he said, "Yes."

"Good," Misao eyed him thoughtfully. "Kaoru hasn't had the best luck with men. Her last boyfriend was a royal jerk-off who fled the country on fear of his life and manhood because had we gotten a hold of him we would have castrated him and then defenestrated him onto a sharp spike."

Kenshin blanched. What was it with this girl and castrating people?

"What did he do?" Kenshin asked; voice a soft growl, amber eyes flashing.

"You'll have to ask Kaoru that – she made me promise never to tell anyone."

"That bad?" Whoever her last boyfriend had been… if he ever came near her again Kenshin would make him wish he'd never be born… and then hand him over to Misao, who seemed so gleefully ready to hurt him.

"Yes that bad," Misao's eyes were dark and her usual chipper voice was solemn. "Bad enough that she had to get out of the country for a year to deal with everything." Misao suddenly dug in her pocket and pulled out several crumpled pieces of paper. "She wrote these."

Carefully Kenshin opened them and smoothed them out so he could read:

Numb

**N**ever wanted to feel like this

**U**nder the pressure, I collapse

**M**ake the pain go away please

**B**ring me smiles and not tears

Sadness

**S**torm clouds cover

**A** twilight streaked sky - she

**D**ances beneath it

**N**ever letting the pain show

**E**very movement hides a

**S**ecret that

**S**he will never tell

Ashen

**A** shattered mirror

**S**hows my fractured reflection

**H**ollow eyes - empty of soul search

**E**ndlessly for a friend

**N**eeding comfort in a dark world

Wild

**W**hat was it that

**I** wanted to be

**L**onely was never it

**D**espair robbed me of hope

Kenshin felt his throat close.

"What did he do to her?" He asked his voice vicious.

Misao shook her head and raised a finger to her lips.

Glancing over his shoulder, Kenshin saw Kaoru threading her way through the crowd over to them. Discreetly, he shoved the poems back over to Misao, who pocketed them.

"There, I got the muffins." Kaoru announced, setting the plate down.

Misao squealed, grabbed one, and took a bite.

"I've got muffins. I've got cappuccino. I've got my best friend back! Life is good!"

Kaoru snorted and gave one of the muffins to Kenshin before taking one for herself.

"So, what were you talking to Kenshin about?" She asked curiously.

"The wedding, when the two of you deciding to get married," Misao said blithely. "We were thinking of bringing in a visual kei band to do the music, and having the wedding ceremony in a graveyard."

Kaoru made a choking noise, and Kenshin helpfully pounded on her back.

"You. Are. Evil. Incarnate." She ground out when she could finally breathe.

Misao smiled sweetly. "But you love me so much!"

"You're insane. Insane people deserve our love and compassion," Kaoru informed her.

Misao pouted softly. "So, if I was sane you wouldn't love me?"

Kaoru eyed her. "I might."

Misao smiled. "I feel loved again."

Kenshin snorted.

Misao glanced down at her wristwatch. "I've got to go! Promised to meet Aoshi for lunch!" She got up from the table and gave Kaoru a hug and a kiss on the cheek. To Kenshin, she gave only a hug.

"I'll see you all later! Baiiii!" She dodged the crowd and left the café.

Kaoru stared after her shaking her head slowly. "Misao… got to love her."

"You have… very interesting friends…," Kenshin murmured.

Kaoru looked at him curiously. "So, what were you and Misao talking about exactly?"

"Now that," Kenshin said, taking a bite of his blueberry muffin, "Would be telling, wouldn't it?

000

Demon opened one eye as he felt an aura approaching. 'Seems like today is just not my day for catnaps.' It was an angelic aura – but not a full-angel. It was like Kenshin. But this was definitely not Kenshin.

The half-angel paused at the door, and then simply walked through it.

Demon blinked.

He knew who this was.

The other stared at him with an ironically amused smile.

"Well I didn't expect to see you here," he said.

'Likewise,' Demon replied. 'Though it is good to see you again. Finally, someone with sense.'

"What you doing in that form?" The half-angel's golden eyes narrowed.

'You see what happens to you after being locked away from your power for fifteen hundred years.' Demon grumbled. 'Give me a day or two, and I'll have amassed enough power to be back in my regular form. Kenshin's the same. He isn't quite back to where he was.'

"So, he's free too," The other Fallen angel said.

Demon snorted, 'He's alive and well. He's with Kaoru at the moment.'

"Ah," he suddenly tilted his head to the side as if listening. "Here he comes now."

His aura suddenly dimmed until it was almost undetectable.

The next second the door opened and Kenshin walked in, followed by Kaoru.

Kenshin froze, a snarl working its way up his throat. "You!"

"Saitou!" Kaoru cried. She pushed past Kenshin to go to him and to Kenshin's amazement gave him a huge hug.

Kenshin's amazement grew as Saitou smiled at her, apparently happy to see her. It was so genuine an expression that it set his teeth on edge.

"You know him?" he asked.

Kaoru turned her head to look at him and nodded. "Of course I do. He's my godfather."

Demon laughed at Kenshin's bewildered expression.

"Wait," Kaoru's eyes widened. "How do you know each other?"

'Saitou's been your family friend for a long time.' Demon injected. 'A very, very long time.' He looked so amused by all of this that Kenshin felt like throttling him.

Kaoru blinked, "don't tell me you're two thousand years old as well."

"Two thousand two hundred and fifty," Saitou replied.

Behind Kaoru, Kenshin was still snarling softly. "Thought you would have gone away after Tokio died."

"Well, someone had to guard them after you vanished."

Kenshin continued to snarl.

"Kenshin," Kaoru sighed. "Keep making that noise and I'll hit you hard. I don't know what history you and Saitou have but be civil please."

Kenshin stopped snarling but the glare didn't leave his face.

"Saitou, do you want some tea?" Kaoru asked. "Oh! I brought something back for you! Wait here!"

She disappeared into the back room, where the boxes of knickknacks were being stored, and appeared a moment later carrying a small brown box in her hand. Kenshin had seated himself, still glaring, opposite Saitou, and Saitou was ignoring him, which apparently was pissing Kenshin off even more.

"Here." She handed it to Saitou, and sat down next to Kenshin, who wrapped his arm around her waist tightly. She elbowed him, and he loosened his grip, but didn't remove his hand.

Saitou opened it up and took out a small crystal sculpture of a wolf howling.

"It's Waterford Crystal from Ireland." Kaoru said.

Saitou smiled, "it's lovely. Thank you."

Kenshin started snarling again, and then yelped as Kaoru drove her elbow into his stomach.

Demon continued to look amused, which was not helping the situation any.

"So, when did you find him and free him?" Saitou asked conversationally.

"A week ago," Kenshin replied tensely.

"And you've been imprisoned all this time?" Saitou asked. "That must have been interesting."

"What happened for Kenshin to end up that way?" Kaoru asked.

"Now, that you'll have to ask Kenshin, as it is not my story to tell," Saitou said.

Kaoru looked at Kenshin who closed his eyes, lips tight.

"Well, I must be going now." Saitou rose to his feet. "I was just stopping by to check on my goddaughter and say hello."

Kenshin twitched.

"It was good seeing you again, Kenshin." The pleasant-faced mask was back on Saitou's features, and Kenshin swallowed a snarl.

"I will see you all again—soon." Saitou turned and opened the door, leaving.

"So he's your godfather?" Kenshin asked, a bit dubiously.

"Yep," Kaoru smiled slightly. "You try growing up with him. I didn't date until I was in college because all the boys were terrified of him. He took me in after my parents died."

"Ah," Kenshin buried his face against her neck, tension draining from his body.

"So, tell me exactly how you and Saitou know each other?" Kaoru asked.

"Another time," Kenshin said. "What do you want for lunch?"

Kaoru sighed grudgingly. "Fine, you'll tell me eventually, I guess. Whatever you feel like making for lunch is good for me."

"Katsudon and Miso?" Kenshin asked.

Kaoru nodded.

'I'll find out what's going on.' She thought to herself as she watched Kenshin bustle about the kitchenette. 'Sooner or later. I'm just getting the feeling that I won't like what I find out.' She sighed. 'But you're not the only one with a secret.'


	5. Chapter 5

Today's just my day for updates isn't it ;;

Yay this is a shorter chapter than usual but we get some secrets revealed.

As before this is a Rated M fic so you are warned lalala and all that stuff.

Enjoy!

Shiin

000

Demon hummed under his breath as he left the apartment. Barely a second after  
he had cleared it wards slammed down effectively blocking him from returning.  
He snorted softly as he eyed the faintly shimmering walls.

'Well someone obviously doesn't want to be disturbed.' He gave the walls a  
mental tap and they rippled. He could get back in if he wanted to. Demon  
pondered the consequences of returning and decided not to. He had no wish to become a  
kitty-throw rug.

'Which probably means I'll have to find somewhere else to sleep tonight.' He  
made disgusted face. 'Yuck sleeping on the streets like a stray! Hmm… Megumi  
doesn't live all that far from Kaoru come to think of it…'

His plan made he cast one more look back at the wards and then padded away.

Kenshin hummed under his breath and she chopped up some salad. 'Lettuce…  
tomato… bleu cheese… Italian dressing… tortilla chips, and corn.' He tossed in  
everything but the dressing and tortilla chips and covered the bowl with a  
cloth.

The bruschetta was about ready also. He pulled the small toasted squares of  
bread from the oven and placed them in a neat circle ringing the tomatoes,  
olive oil and parmesan cheese mixture.

"Kenshin?" Kaoru murmured softly poking her head into the kitchenette. "Why  
are you making a four course meal?"

"Just trying out some new recipes," he answered cheerfully.

"Uh-huh," Kaoru replied sounding unconvinced. She gave the air a sniff. "Are  
those sugar cookies I smell?"

"Yep," Kenshin walked over to small grill that he had found shoved unopened  
in the back of one of the cabinets and turned the yakitori to keep them from  
burning.

Kaoru shook her head and backed carefully out of the kitchen. "I'm leaving  
before I give it bad food karma."

Kenshin suppressed a smile as he watched her scurry away looking a bit  
flustered.

Kaoru locked herself in her library and sat down on the overstuffed leather chair. And tucked her knees under her chin, wrapping her arms around her legs.

'This is some weird cosmic joke right? I can barely boil water without burning it and my boyfriend – yes I said boyfriend shut up! – is a gourmet cook! What did I do in a past life? Run over two cartloads of nuns?'

She sighed. 'Demon is AWOL. Kenshin is cooking… and plotting something. No one makes sugar cookies without a reason unless it's the holidays and they're six months away. So yeah… plotting… definitely plotting… but sneakily.'

'So what I am going to do?' She asked herself. Hole up in the library sounded like a good idea. Read something… No she decided. With her luck she'd grab a romance novel by mistake…

Kaoru grumbled softly under her breath.

'I like Kenshin right?' Yes right. Like him. Like him a lot. Her hormones chimed in.

'So why am I running like a startled rabbit?'

Her mind quickly came up with several reasons the least of which included a certain ex-boyfriend that had a price on his head should he ever come back to Japan.

"Kenshin. Is. Not. Shoutarou." She gritted her teeth.

'Yeah…' her mind interjected. 'Hopefully he won't break your heart, rob your bank account and do other things that took therapy to get over.'

"Kaoru?" Kenshin's knock on the door jerked Kaoru out of her thoughts.

"Hmm what?" She asked.

"Dinner is ready."

Kaoru briefly thought of saying that she wasn't hungry and hiding in the library for the rest of the night but Kenshin probably wouldn't take that for an answer. Heck he'd probably spoon feed her to get her to eat. If he attempted to he'd be losing a couple of fingers.

"Coming!" She called back.

She got off and gave the leather chair one last longing look before squaring her shoulders and leaving the library.

Kenshin was waiting for her and grinned when she appeared.

"Dinner is ready."

Kaoru gave the air a sniff. "Smells good. What did you make?"

"You'll see."

'If I see any aphrodisiacs I'm out of here faster than a bat out of hell.'

Luckily she didn't see any oysters or peaches or bananas.

She did however find a salad, tomato soup and bread rolls, yakitori, udon and sugar cookies.

She sat down and eyed the bowl of tomato soup warily. She spooned a bit into her mouth and found that it tasted good. Of course Kenshin made it – how could it not be good?

Kenshin sat down next to her and Kaoru resisted the urge to scoot away. Was it too late to make a split for Misao's house?

Judging by the way Kenshin was watching her – yes it was too late. Way, way, way too late…

"How is it?" Kenshin asked.

"Good," Kaoru said swallowing the soup. She grabbed a piece of toasted bread and piled bruschetta on it and took a bite. Eyeing Kenshin she noticed he had no food in front of him and didn't appear to be showing any interest in the food.

'Okay… I'll eat – quickly! And then barricade myself in the library.' She decided.

"You are done?" Kenshin gestured toward the soup bowl and Kaoru nodded.

Kenshin picked up the soup bowl and replaced it with a salad bowl.

Kaoru glared at the poor leaves of lettuce. So that was his plan… stuffing her to the gills until she couldn't move or run. She picked at the salad but managed to eat about half of it. Seeing she was done Kenshin took the salad bowl away and deposited a plate of yakitori in front of her.

"Aren't you going to eat?" She asked.

Kenshin's eyes gleamed, "I'll eat later."

Kaoru's eyes began to flicker around looking for possible escape routes. The door? Too far away. The window? Might be a bit snug? The trap door ? And do what sprout wings ala Kenshin and fly away? He could fly too.

Yep Kaoru was well and truly trapped.

She managed a bite or two of the yakitori and gave Kenshin a pointed look. He merely smiled at her and took away the plate putting in its stead a plat heaped with sugar cookies.

Fresh out of the oven sugar cookies.

Kaoru felt her resolve weakening.

She glared at him but took one of the cookies and bit into it.

And of course the damn cookie tasted heavenly.

'That's it.' Kaoru decided. 'I'm not touching anything he makes me from now on unless it's singed around the edges and giving off smoke.' Either that or go back to her takeout-only diet.

"Hold still you have a crumb." Kenshin gently brushed it away.

Kaoru fought the urge to bite his fingers. She knew what he was doing and Kaoru she wasn't going to just let herself be seduced.

But the cookies were really good….

'At least they're not chocolate chip.' She thought optimistically. She wouldn't have stood a chance against chocolate chip.

"I'm going to make hot chocolate," Kenshin said getting up. "Would you like some?"

"Yes…" Kaoru said a bit reluctantly. 'No! No hot chocolate! No chocolate period! Chocolate's an aphrodisiac!'

But was that hot chocolate homemade? It certainly smelled homemade. Kaoru  
brushed away the thought of hot chocolate in the middle of summer.

"You made this yourself didn't you?" Kaoru glanced at the mug of hot chocolate he set in front of her.

"Yes. Melted chocolate pieces, milk, sugar and vanilla extract." Kenshin said.

Kaoru briefly entertained the idea of dumping the chocolate on his head and locking herself in her room… but that would be a waste of good chocolate.

So she sipped her drink and sulked.

Kenshin smiled serenely and drank his and Kaoru did her best not to notice the way his throat moved when he swallowed.

Oh hells… if he didn't end up pouncing her she'd probably end up pouncing him first.

"Are you done?" He set his mug on the table and nodded his head at Kaoru's own mug.

"Yes," Kaoru murmured softly.

"Good," the gleam in his eyes was the only warning Kaoru had before she was suddenly picked up.

"Kenshin!" She screeched. "What are you doing?"

"Taking you to the bedroom," he replied ducking her fist.

She sputtered at him, "put me down NOW!"

"The only place I'll be putting you down on is the bed." He replied.

Kaoru cursed at him in every language she knew to which he only arched an eyebrow.

He cut off her tirade which had spiraled into a rant about stupid men (in Spanish) mixed with where he could shove himself (in French) and what she'd do to him if she got her hands on a bokken (in German), by capturing her mouth with his.

Kaoru snarl was cut off abruptly as she was thoroughly kissed. He tasted of chocolate and sugar and Kaoru found herself melting against him her resistance falling away. Kenshin purred against her mouth and she whimpered in reply.

Not breaking the kiss Kenshin maneuvered them through the hallway and into the bedroom. Giving the door a mental shove and lock for good measure. Kaoru was clinging to him her hands tangled in his hair and he lowered he gently down on the bed.

Breaking the kiss he feathered softer ones against her jaw and neck. Kaoru eyes closed and she melted as Kenshin cupped the base of her skull and massaged gently. He pulled the ribbon from her hair and her hair flowed silken and loose across the sheets.

His hands slid forward to frame her face and he placed a gentle kiss against her lips. Kaoru opened her eyes and for a second they just stared at one another. Kaoru sighed softly and wrapped her arms around his waist. Kenshin let go of her face and she tucked her head underneath his chin. They let out the breaths they'd both been holding.

"Are you ok?" He asked softly.

"Mmm…" Kaoru murmured. "I just want to be held for a little bit."

Kenshin's arms tightened about her in a gentle hug and he laid a brief kiss on her forehead.

Kaoru sighed again and tilted her head back to look up at him, he smiled back at her and laid a kiss on her forehead once more, trailing his lips against the curves of her face and lips.

Kaoru purred softly as he kissed her. Kenshin nipped her bottom lip softly and she opened her mouth his tongue twining with hers. She tangled her hands in his hair and writhed against him.

Her fingers reached for the hem of his shirt and Kenshin obligingly peeled it off. Purring softly she rolled him so that he was underneath her. Never breaking the kiss she trailed her fingers along his sides and across his chest following the sweep and ripple of muscle. Pulling her mouth away she nipped at his neck and shoulder.

Suddenly she became aware that Kenshin had stilled beneath her. A faint tremor was going through him that had nothing to do with arousal. Faintly she could a soft strangled snarl.

"Kenshin?" Kaoru asked raising her eyes.

Kenshin's golden eyes were wide his pupil a mere pinprick. He was shuddering beneath her and Kaoru felt a stab of fear.

"Kenshin?" She asked again softly. Gently she placed her palm against the side of his face. Kenshin's snarled louder eyes widening almost impossibly. Suddenly Kaoru found herself pinned beneath him his hands around her throat.

Images ripped through her mind. Memories so strong he was transiting them mentally through touch.

Kenshin knelt, head bowed in the center of a tent whose sides rippled and billowed in response to the wind outside that she could hear blowing in a soft whistle. His wings were held tightly against his back and his golden eyes were lowered.

A woman stood in front of him.

Kaoru felt an instant stab of dislike toward her. If the pendant that she wore around her neck – which was the same one currently around Kaoru's neck – was any indication she was bonded to Kenshin.

Strike one.

The way she was eyeing him had Kaoru's skin crawling.

Strike two.

And Kenshin's beaten submissive air made her want to break something.

Strike three.

You're out bitch.

Yes, Kaoru did not like her at all.

She stalked toward Kenshin and grabbed his chin forcing him to look at her. Kaoru flinched at the hollow look in his golden eyes.

The woman smiled at him and brushed his bangs out of his eyes with a tender air that made Kaoru feel sick. Kenshin closed his eyes and Kaoru saw a muscle jump in his jaw.

"On your back," she ordered.

Kenshin lowered his head and laid back, trapping his wings beneath himself. Kaoru understood now why he had freaked out on her. He was defenseless here, unable to get away should he need to.

And the bitch knew it and made him do it regardless.

She smiled at him and stroked his cheek. "You're mine. Do you know how long I've wanted you? Watching that whore Shura parade you around? Well she's dead now and you're mine." She touched the pendant around her neck and in the dim light it glowed slightly.

She lowered herself against him, pressing her lips to his, kissing him. Kenshin remained stiff and unresponsive and after a moment she pulled away eyes narrowed.

"Fine then," the look on her face was not pleasant to see.

She got off him her face dark.

"Get up," she hissed.

Kenshin rose to his feet, head still lowered.

She hissed at him and backhanded him viciously.

Kenshin's expression didn't change which only seemed to infuriate her more.

"Follow me," she commanded.

Wordlessly Kenshin did so.

They walked out of the tent and to a square. Kaoru felt her stomach turn. In the center of the square were two large wooden posts.

People began to gather at their appearance. The Bitch nodded at someone and gestured toward Kenshin.

Kenshin was lead toward the posts and Kaoru watched in growing horror as he was tied to them.

She gestured again and a burly heavy set man moved from the crowd holding a coiled leather whip in his hand.

He stood a few feet back from Kenshin feet braced and then let the whip fall across his back, cutting into his wings. Feathers fell to the ground and there was a flicker of pain across Kenshin's face but he made no sound.

Again and again the lash fell and still Kenshin was silent. Kaoru wished she could tear her eyes away but she seemed unable to do so. Kenshin's shoulders bled where the whip caught and tore skin and feathers littered the ground the black taking on a slightly red tinge as blood soaked into them.

Suddenly she found herself yanked out of his memories.

Kenshin's hands fell away from her neck and she sucked in a breath fighting a shudder that ripped through her. Her eyes burned with tears and she fought them viciously.

Kenshin was staring at her, his eyes wide but the pupils regaining their normal size. He was panting softly, body still shaking and closed his eyes when he saw her looking at him, turning his head away.

"Kenshin?" Kaoru murmured softly. She reached to touch him and he jerked his head back, eyes still closed.

"Kenshin," Kaoru said again. She gently laid her hand against the side of his face and felt her heart twist as he flinched.

"I'm sorry," his voice was hoarse. "I…I… I didn't mean it."

"Who was she?" Kaoru asked voice hushed.

"One of my former… bondeds" Kenshin's voice sounded hollow.

"Were they… were they all like that?" Kaoru felt a lump grow in her throat.

"No," Kenshin said softly. "Not all of them. She… she was the worst."

"What happened to her?" Kaoru asked softly.

Kenshin opened his eyes and they looked haunted. "I killed her."

"You killed her?" Kaoru could barely form the words.

"I didn't kill her but I may as well have." Kenshin closed his eyes.

"What happened?" Kaoru.

"There was an attack… I was fighting on the other side when I heard her cry out. I went to her – I had no other choice – there was a raider riding toward her." The lines on face deepened. "I could have moved faster. But I didn't."

"So that's why you were trapped in the pendant for fifteen hundred years." Kaoru said.

"Once my Bonded dies I am sent back to it. And then I am not released until another is found. I was in their so long I feared that the Kasshin had died out entirely – wiped out in the attack - and I would be stuck inside of it forever."

Kaoru scooted over to him and he stiffened but relaxed against her, burying his face against her neck. "I promised myself never again. I would never let something like that happen ever again. I would never be used like that again and I would never allow my Bonded to be in danger like that again."

"For what it's worth," Kaoru murmured. "I probably would have killed her and quite viciously at that. Hell I still want to hunt her down and kill her quite viciously in a manner that involves long drawn out torture and much pain for her."

Kenshin snorted very softly and Kaoru wrapped her arms around him determinedly ignoring the way he stiffened and waiting patiently for him to relax against her.

"Come on," she squeezed gently and then pulled away. "We're making tea. Tea is the cure for everything – or so I learned in my stay in Ireland. I swear they'd drink nothing but tea – and Guinness – given the chance. Wake up in the morning have tea, teatime have tea, feeling sick have tea, celebrating have tea…" Her voice trailed off as she noticed his lips twitching as he fought to suppress a smile. "…So anyway we're having tea."

She grabbed his hand and pulled him off the bed.

Once in the kitchen she set him down at the table – grabbed some sugar cookies and placed them in front of him with "sugar is good for you so eat,' and made tea.

Kenshin ducked his head and obediently grabbed a cookie and chewed on it while Kaoru darted around grabbing mugs and sugar and setting the kettle to boil. The tea made she sat down next to him, within reach, and grabbed herself a cookie.

Kenshin cupped his hands around the mug of tea letting the warmth seep into his bones and chase away the last of the bad memories.

"You have to drink it." Kaoru said, taking a sip of her own and sighing softly.

Kenshin dutifully raised the mug to his lips and swallowed. Finally he felt the last of the tension drain out of him and met her eyes and managed a slight smile.

Kaoru smiled in return and finished the last of her cookie. She was reaching for another one when Kenshin's voice stopped her.

"Kaoru what did your boyfriend do to you?"

Kaoru went still, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Kaoru," Kenshin said softly.

Kaoru flinched. "Please I don't want to talk about it." There was a note of begging in her voice.

Kenshin touched her hand and she jerked away. "It's in the past. It doesn't matter anymore."

"That's what I thought too," he said softly.

Kaoru closed her eyes.

"Kaoru please tell me. What was so bad that you had to leave Japan for a year to get over it? And write the kind of poems you did?"

"Misao showed you my poems?" Kaoru asked softly.

Kenshin nodded.

Kaoru pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes. "Shoutarou was my first serious boyfriend. I didn't date much. Kinda hard to date when all the boys you know are terrified of your godfather – Saitou."

Kenshin could just imagine.

"So anyway," Kaoru continued determinedly. "It was my junior – well first year but I'd taken so many AP and college classes during high school I had enough credits amassed to be a junior – and I met Shoutarou. At first he was nice really sweet and attentive and just an all around good guy." Her voice lowered. "That's the face he presented to everybody."

Kenshin clenched his jaw. "What did he do?"

"Stupid things at first… insult my cooking – you've noticed I never cook anything if I can help it?" At his nod she continued, "The first time he got mad at me, really mad at me he threw a pot at me. He missed and apologized saying he would never do it again. He never threw anything at me again but he just got worse."

She closed her eyes. "The first time he hit me I think I just stared at him. I'd never been hit before in my life – not counting practicing Kendo or martial arts – hit intentionally." She shook her head, "I don't know why I didn't just throw him out."

'You're such a failure as a woman you can't even cook!' Shoutarou's words still echoed in her mind.

Kenshin gripped the mug so tightly she was amazed it hadn't shattered.

Kaoru bit her lip, "he only hit me two more times after that – three strikes you're out. I kicked him out of our apartment and told him to get lost. Oh he did get lost – took my money and vanished from the country – last I heard he's in New Zealand."

She heard him move and then felt his arms wrap around her. She leaned against him. She had no more tears left for anything Shoutarou had ever done to her. Her only regret was not leaving him the first time he had done anything to her. But if he ever set foot back in Japan Kaoru was going to kill him.

"We're quite a pair aren't we?" She forced a laugh.

Kenshin kissed her forehead gently and Kaoru relaxed against him, just allowing him to hold her.

"How did you stay sane?" She asked softly.

"Hope," Kenshin answered.

Kaoru rested her head against his shoulder and hugged him gently.

"Come on," Kenshin said after a moment. "Let's get to bed."

Kaoru gave him a questioning look.

"Not unless you want to," he murmured.

"But what about you?"

Kenshin shook his head, "I am fine."

Kaoru gave him a narrow-eyed look. "Sure you are. Flashbacks and attempted strangulations are the sign of a happy, healthy Kenshin. Sure…"

Kenshin ducked his head, his eyes lowered.

Kaoru felt her heart twist, "idiot." She grumbled softly. "C'mere." She kissed his cheek gently. Threading her fingers through his, she squeezed his hand.

Kenshin raised his eyes to hers, his expression sheepish.

"Idiot," Kaoru repeated again.

"That I am," he replied.

"Yes but you're my idiot."

Kenshin's eyes flickered. "Possessive are we Kaoru?"

He was doing it again… "Possessive… Ah… Um... yes… very… yes very possessive… possessive… yep." She blinked and rearranged her thoughts. "Stop doing that or I'm going to make you call me Kaoru-dono!"

Kenshin laughed, the sound sending chills down her spine and drew her against him.

"It's only fair," Kaoru groused. "If I'm yours. You're mine."

Kenshin's eyebrow quirked, "all's fair in love and war?"

"Precisely," Kaoru agreed, she found herself yawning and smothered it with the back of her hand.

"Tired?" Kenshin asked softly.

"Mmm…" Kaoru murmured. "Stupid jet lag."

Kenshin chuckled softly and she squeaked as he suddenly picked her up. "Let's get you to bed then."

Kaoru yawned again.

Kenshin pressed a soft kiss against her forehead.

Kaoru was asleep even before he set her down on the bed and Kenshin curled up beside her; drifting off into a sleep that was void of dreams.


	6. Chapter 6

Here's the new chapter of Purgatorio .

Side Note:

Arariel: Angel (made him into a demon) that people pray to in effort to cure stupidity.

Purgatorio: A play on the word Purgatory - Limbo since that is basically at what Kenshin is stuck at both literally and symbolically (as you will see as the story goes on).

This is a rated M fic so you HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Lyrics are the translated (from Spanish) 'Because of You' by Juanes

Enjoy!

Shiin

Kaoru awoke alone in the bed. She rolled over onto her side and found that Kenshin's side of the bed was deserted but the covers still warm.

He hadn't been gone all that long for his morning flight.

Kaoru sighed softly pulled the covers up under her chin, snuggling back into the covers. 'Don't want to get up… too tired… it's nice and warm and feels good….' She thought sleepily.

All thoughts of sleep vanished however when Demon suddenly jumped onto the bed landing solidly onto her chest.

'Get up!' There was a note of whining in his voice. 'Please you have to make it stop!'

Kaoru blinked at him. "Make what stop?"

Demon's ears flattened against his head. 'Can't tell you exactly, it's a surprise, Kenshin has threatened to skin me alive if I spoil it. But it sucks, so will you please get up so it can end?'

Kaoru blinked some more in confusion. "Okay…"

'Good,' Demon grumbled, jumping off her chest and back onto the floor.

Kaoru shook her head softly and got out of bed. Pushing open the door she followed Demon out into the hallway.

She stopped and tilted her head… music? What?

Her radio was playing a Spanish ballad and she translated it immediately in her mind….

"…And because of you...

That I speak of love again

And it's because of you...

That my eyes shine today

And because of you…

That I soothe my hurt"

'Biggest sap ever!' Demon declared. 'Now turn it off please? It's hurting my ears!'

"Shush," Kaoru retorted, listening.

'My teeth are rotting!' Demon wailed. 'I am going to go into convulsions of sugary-sweetness!'

Kaoru continued to ignore him and listen to the song a grin stealing across her face as she translated the music:

"Every time I wake up

And I see that you're by my side

I feel renewed"

'Rotting…. Falling out of my mouth…' Demon whimpered.

"Fine, fine," Kaoru said and turned off the song, the grin still there.

Demon sighed softly, 'Thank you. He's had that one song on repeat for the past half-hour. The first time it was fine… the seventh and I was starting to wonder if I could smash the radio.'

Kaoru stuck her tongue out at him, grin finally falling from her face. "So where were you last night?" She asked.

'Visiting Megumi,' Demon replied. 'She makes a really nice tuna dish.'

Kaoru snorted. "Speaking of food did Kenshin make anything for breakfast?"

'Yep, and you'll be happy to know he burned the toast as I suggested.'

Kaoru blinked, "really? He actually burned it."

Demon stared at her, 'this is Kenshin we are talking about remember. No… it's not burned in the charred-and-falling-pieces-way it's burned in the dark-brown-around-the-edges-way."

"Of course," Kaoru snorted. "He probably threw a fit the second it started turning dark."

'Yep,' Demon agreed. 'Now hurry up and eat before he comes back and thinks that you're not eating it because it's quote: burned – end quote.'

"Will do!" Kaoru scampered off into the kitchenette

She found Kenshin had set out a bowl of oatmeal he had ringed the edges of the bowl with cut slices of strawberries. A pot of freshly brewed green tea, the aforementioned toast and yogurt to round it out.

She sat down and began eating, starting with the toast incase he came back and found it uneaten and thought she didn't like it.

She was halfway through her bowl of oatmeal when she heard footsteps and a moment later Kenshin poked his head into the kitchen. His hair was in disarray, falling around his shoulders in a windblown tangle. He was barefoot and not wearing a shirt and she took a sip of her tea to keep from drooling.

"Have a good flight?" She asked once she swallowed.

"Mmm…" Kenshin rotated his shoulders and cracked his neck to ease some of the tension that had developed while he was flying.

Kaoru took another gulp of her tea and was rewarded by scalding her tongue.

Kenshin seemed oblivious which Kaoru wasn't sure if it was better than him knowing the effect he had on her. He sat down beside her, grabbing a mug from the cabinet on the way.

"How is breakfast?" He asked.

"Good," Kaoru said brightly. "Thanks for burning the toast."

A baffled look crossed Kenshin's face. "You like it burned?"

"It could be blacker," Kaoru admitted.

'Told you!' Demon crowed from his position against Kaoru's feet. He dodged Kenshin's kick and cackled softly.

"Damned cat," Kenshin muttered.

'True on both accounts,' Demon remarked.

"So what's on the agenda today?" Kenshin asked.

Kaoru made a face, "my first day back in college. You can stay here and watch TV or something while I'm gone to class."

"No." Kenshin said. "I'm coming with you."

Kaoru eyed him, "what am I going to do? Tell them all you're my bodyguard?"

"I can be invisible." Kenshin replied.

Kaoru's eyebrows rose, "literally?"

"Yes," he nodded.

"That… is… " Kaoru blinked. "What other powers do you have that you haven't told me about?" She demanded.

"Well," Kenshin said smugly. "That would be telling, now wouldn't it?"

Kaoru glared at him. "You're being sneaky. I don't like sneaky."

"Hmmm…" Kenshin dropped a kiss on her nose. "What time is your class?"

Kaoru blinked several times as her eyes attempted to cross. "Um…" She glanced at the clock and started. "Shit! Better get ready NOW!"

She scrambled out of the chair and bolted into the bedroom to take a quick shower.

She appeared moments later her hair tied up in a ponytail and a pair of jeans and a tank top with a light jacket thrown over it.

"Misao called while you were in the shower," Kenshin informed her. "She dropped your books off at your professors office along with the schedule for the rest of the week."

"Misao is wonderful," Kaoru dropped a kiss on her cheek. "I'll get her a gift certificate for her favorite café in thanks."

Kenshin twitched slightly at the image of a caffeinated Misao.

"Aren't you going to change?" Kaoru asked giving him a pointed look. Not that she minded the bare feet and chest…

"I'll be invisible, no one will see me." Kenshin shrugged.

Kaoru closed her eyes and muttered something under her breath that Kenshin didn't quite catch.

"Come on we've got to now. Making yourself invisible would be a good thing right now since I have no desire to attempt to outrun a group of screaming girls."

Kenshin blinked at that and then grinned. Faintly his outline shimmered for a moment and then grew solid.

"I'm invisible now."

Kaoru blinked several times, "then why can I still see you?"

'Only you can see him,' Demon informed her. 'He's invisible to everybody else.'

"Oh… goody…" Kaoru's mind quickly came up with some scenarios involving that and she discarded them immediately. "Okay… clock…time… late for class. Let's go now!"

She grabbed Kenshin's hand and pulled him out of the apartment.

It was very disconcerting to be walking through a crowded hallway with Kenshin at her heels and being the only one able to see him. At the same time it was quite amusing since he had to dodge people – invisible didn't make you immaterial and Kenshin could still get walked into or stepped on.

As happened several times and left him cursing under his breath.

He paled when she brought him to the train station and they boarded one of Tokyo's notoriously crowded trains.

At any other time having Kenshin wrapped around her would have inspired thoughts of other things. But his pale face and the slight tremors effectively doused any thoughts of sex that Kaoru could be entertaining. She murmured soothingly to him under her breath and added trains to her list of 'things Kenshin does not like.'

The second they arrived at their stop Kenshin untangled himself from her and bolted out the door to lean against a pole drawing in deep breaths.

"You ok?" Kaoru asked softly, making her way toward him.

Kenshin managed a slight smile. "I'll be fine. It was just… too crowded in there."

"I understand," Kaoru reached out and twined her fingers with his. "The University is only a few more minutes walking. Come on."

Kenshin nodded and didn't let go of her hand the rest of the way there.

Kaoru felt herself relax as she stepped onto the campus. Another part of her life fell back into place. She was back in school, the thought held comfort for her.

"Kaoru!" The shout had her whipping her head over in the direction of where it originated from.

"Ichi!" She beamed as the taller man walked over to her. "Long time no see!"

"Heard you left Japan for a year," Ichi gave her a hug. "We missed you. Psychology was boring after you left, there was no one to debate with."

Kaoru ignored Kenshin's soft growl. "What's happened since I left, anything interesting?"

"We have a new professor and I swear he's trying to regress us back to elementary school." Ichi rolled his eyes. "Very easy class, but really boring."

"Ah," Kaoru nodded. "Speaking of class I better get going. It was nice to see you again!"

She turned back to find Kenshin looking at her with an annoyed look on his face.

"Ichi's one of my classmates," she told him. "I haven't seen him since I left Japan. I'll probably end up getting hugged and swung around all day by my old classmates." She wrapped an arm around his waist and squeezed lightly. "You're cute when you're jealous."

"I am not jealous." Kenshin said.

"Mmm..." Kaoru batted her eyelashes at him and pulled away. "I believe you. Now let's get to class."

000

Ichi had spoken right when he said that the new professor was attempting to regress them back into elementary school. Kaoru felt like her brain was fogging over as the professor – a Mr. Sasaki – gave a lecture on nature vs. nurture.

'Didn't I learn about this in high school psychology?' Kaoru wondered vaguely. Half of her classmates she noted had dropped off to sleep.

Behind her Kaoru could sense Kenshin fidgeting.

'Poor guy. I did offer to let him stay home and watch TV all day. Now he gets to suffer with me.'

"What is the whole point of this lecture?" Kenshin asked.

Kaoru pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled down: 'Have no clue it's insanely basic Psychology.' Where Kenshin was both invisible and unable to be heard they could hear her if she spoke so she'd resorted to writing down her responses.

"And you're interested in this kind of stuff?" Kenshin asked.

Yep. Kaoru wrote. It gets much better once we get into the more advanced stuff like mental disorders and ways of treatment.

"Uh-huh," Kenshin sounded dubious.

Go take a walk or something if you're bored. Kaoru jotted down.

"I'm not leaving you here by yourself."

I'm in a classroom Kenshin nothing is going to happen. The most exciting thing will be that idiot over there toppling onto the floor and waking up. Kaoru jerked her chin in the direction of one of the sleepers – who's position looked decidedly uncomfortable and whose weight was tilting the chair back.

I give him five minutes before he falls and gives himself a concussion.

Kenshin snorted softly. "I'm still bored."

Find something to occupy yourself, Kaoru scribbled down.

She blinked at what she had written. 'Oh shit.' She didn't need to turn around to see the grin on Kenshin's face.

"If you insist I must find something to occupy myself than I shall," his breath ghosted across the back of her neck a second before he dropped a soft kiss there.

Kaoru made a squeaking sound as a feather-like touch brushed across her stomach. Another circling around the hollow of her throat. She turned slightly to see Kenshin smirking at her his hands still.

The hell?

"What are you doing?" She tried to keep from squirming.

"Occupying myself."

"But you're not even…"

"Touching you?" Kenshin's eye glinted. "Do you want me to?"

Kaoru glared at him, "I'm in class! Back of the room with no one paying attention to me yes! But still in class!"

"That can easily be changed." Kenshin said.

"How long do you want to sleep on the couch for? Two or three months?" Kaoru snapped back pitching her voice soft.

Kenshin sighed softly and she felt the ghost-touches go away.

"Thank you," Kaoru gritted out and turned he attention back to the professor.

Or at least tried to.

Her hormones had woke up and were complaining loudly. 'Hello! Kenshin shirtless and practically breathing down your neck! And the whole touching you – us – psychically thing has interesting possibilities. Plus, this lecture is really boring and we already know everything being told to us; and Kenshin is so much more interesting that psych class any old day…'

'Shut up!' Kaoru snapped at them.

'He smells good too!' The whined childishly.

'Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!' Kaoru snarled.

Kenshin chuckled softly as he heard Kaoru cursing under her breath. Some of the expletives were quite interesting and could most definitely be called original… She heard him and shot a glare at him.

He merely smiled in return; she looked adorable when she was angry.

'Couch. Three months. Alone. No bed.' She mouthed.

Kenshin nodded. Sure Kaoru… whatever you say…

She held up four fingers.

Four months?

Someone was in a bad mood.

He couldn't just allow her to stay in that bad mood either.

Kaoru growled softly under her breath and turned her attention once more back on the lecture. Several moments passed and she finally began to relax as it appeared Kenshin had shut up and settled down.

She heard his chair creak and tensed. What was he up to now?

She peeked back at him and nearly let her head meet the desk in exasperation.

He was braiding his hair, looking oblivious to her.

It was a normal everyday action but not when Kenshin was doing it.

She balled her hands into fists as she watched the silky strands spill through his hands and he twisted them deftly into several smaller braids scattered throughout his hair. His touch was light and gentle and Kaoru remembered all too well the feel of his hands on her. He tossed his hair back over his shoulder and Kaoru eyed the line of his neck.

'He's taunting me!' She seethed.

Kenshin quirked an eyebrow at her. "Hmm?"

"Nothing," Kaoru bit off.

She felt like kicking something.

"That's fine then Kaoru."

Kaoru felt her brain turn to mush. 'Kaoru-dono! Dammit he's going to be calling me Kaoru-dono when I'm through with him!'

"Kaoru?" A different voice said and she snapped her head back to see the professor and rest of the class looking at her.

"Are you all right?" The professor asked.

Kaoru blinked, "um… yes…. Sorry I spaced out there… Jet lag?" She offered.

Kenshin laughed softly and she cursed.

The professor nodded – apparently that was an acceptable answer and resumed teaching the class. Everyone else pulled their eyes away and either went back to sleeping or attempting to listen to the professor drone on.

You are SO DEAD! When I get my hands on you! Kaoru wrote to Kenshin, nearly ripping the paper apart with her pen.

"If you say so," Kaoru heard the chair creak as he leaned forward and barely repressed a whimper as he pressed a kiss to the side of her neck.

She shot her hand into the air.

"Can I go to the nurse?" She asked. "I feel dizzy." 'From all the blood leaving my brain.'

The professor nodded and Kaoru all but ran from the classroom with Kenshin trailing after her.

The hallway was deserted and the doors closed. Kaoru whirled around and fought the urge to smack him senseless/pounce Kenshin.

"Next time I have class I you are staying at home! Alone! With only Demon for company! And if you every do anything like that again I-" Her tirade was cut off as he pulled her into his arms and she found herself being kissed.

'No! Kissing does not make everything better!' She snarled as she found herself melting against him.

'Bad hormones bad!' She growled. 'Bad Kenshin too.'

'We'll have to disagree with you on that one,' her hormones replied.

He nipped at her throat and she felt her bones liquefy.

'Oh yes total disagreement there.' Her hormones decided.

She tried to muster a glare as he pulled away. "You're still in trouble."

"Mmm…" Kenshin kissed her cheek seeming unconcerned.

"Lots of trouble," Kaoru said firmly.

"If you say so," Kenshin replied and ducked the swat she aimed at his head.

"So what else for today?" Kenshin asked.

"I'm not going to class with you unless you're in a strait jacket." Kaoru told him.

Kenshin blinked at her, "what's the point of that?"

"They're hard to get out of. That'll keep you occupied."

Kenshin sighed and Kaoru swatted at him again.

"I would like to go get something to eat for lunch but A. your invisible and B. shirtless." Kaoru grumbled.

She blinked at Kenshin as a shirt suddenly appeared on him.

"You can just pull clothes from thin air?" She blinked some more. "Then WHY didn't you tell me I DIDN'T have to bring you clothes shopping?"

"Because I can't create things unless I've seen them and I didn't know what kind of clothes the people in this time wear." Kenshin replied, trying to diffuse her anger.

Kaoru glared at him, "good excuse."

Kenshin smiled, "you mentioned food?"

"Yes… food…" Kaoru grumbled still annoyed with him.

And judging by the looks they were getting as they made their way to a nearby restaurant. Kenshin was anything but invisible.

Kenshin wrapped his arm around Kaoru's waist loosely and she fought the urge to elbow him in the side. At least if it looked like he was taken – which he was! – They'd be less likely to have random bimbos come up and flirt with him/give him their number.

Kaoru found a booth at the back of the restaurant and a moment later a waitress arrived to hand out menus and take drink orders. Any thoughts of flirting vanished when Kaoru met her eyes with a glare that said 'mine, back off and walk away slowly.'

Kenshin coughed softly to keep from laughing and tightened his arm around her waist. Kaoru huffed softly and flipped open the menu.

They made their orders and settled down to eat with only a few more disruptions.

000

Demon twitched softly as woke up.

It took him a few moments to become aware of everything. And he wondered at the sluggishness of his brain and actions.

'Huh?' He blinked.

A long arm and hand met his eyes instead of a paw.

His head shot up and he blinked several more times.

Body… yes… body.

Human body.

There was a rustle against his back and he felt a grin steal across his face.

Wings as well.

'I'm no longer a cat! Yes!'

He pushed himself to his knees and got to his feet. His knees buckled and nearly sent him crashing back down to the floor.

'Two feet not four,' he concentrated on keeping his balance and did so though he swayed slightly.

'Can I finally talk audibly again?' He wondered.

"Ara…" His voice came out as a croak, rusty from not being used in several thousand years. "Arariel."

Yes that was his name.

Arariel.

He heard the doorknob rustle and his head whipped toward it.

Kenshin and Kaoru were back or so it seemed.

"Gah can't think correctly," he grumbled.

The door opened and he turned slightly unsteadily to meet them.

Their reactions weren't exactly what he had expected.

Kenshin growled and Kaoru stared at him.

Oh right… he wasn't wearing any clothes.

Oops.

The appearance of a pair of pants helped somewhat – though Kaoru was still doing her best not to blush.

"Who are you?" Kenshin snarled.

"Idiot," Arariel snapped.

Kenshin blinked.

Oh goody his voice still sounded the same.

"If you actually used some sense you could read my aura and know exactly who I am." Arariel huffed.

Kenshin blinked again realization dawning on him as he did just that. "Demon?"

"Yep." He replied. "Arariel."

"Ara…" Kenshin eye's widened. "The demon in charge of curing stupidity?"

"The same," Arariel grinned. "Though I've been locked up and a bit remiss in my duties or the past couple thousand of years I have some catching up to do."

"You're really Demon?" Kaoru asked. Her eyes narrowed as she took in his appearance. He was about the same height as Kenshin. Black wings just like Kenshin. But his eyes weren't like Kenshin's at all. A green-gold and with slitted pupils like a cat's. His hair hung shaggy around his face and across his shoulders, black tipped with red.

It was Demon.

Or whoever it was that had been Demon.

"I'll explain everything in a bit." Demon… Arariel's stomach grumbled. "But can I first have something to eat that doesn't contain fish?"

"Sure…" Kaoru made shooing motions to Kenshin who grunted, still eyeing Arariel and the three of them went into the kitchenette where Kenshin made some spaghetti and Kaoru tea.

"Food!" Arariel's reaction to food the first time gave Kenshin's a run for its money. "Taste buds yes!" He attacked the spaghetti and it was done with it in a few minutes.

Kaoru handed him a napkin to wipe his face free of the sauce.

Arariel gave her a rueful smile, "thank you. I'm fighting the urge to lick myself. I've been a cat too long."

Kenshin snorted. "And how did you end up as a cat?"

"Same way you ended up in that pendant." Arariel replied. "Kasshin magicians."

Kaoru winced, "my family were not nice were they?"

"That's the understatement of the century," Arariel growled.

"What exactly did they do besides the whole angel-killing, hurting Kenshin thing?" Kaoru bit her lip and squeezed Kenshin's hand gently.

"Long story," Arariel raked his hand through his hair, pulling it out of his eyes.

"We've got time." Kaoru said. Kenshin pulled her off her chair and plopped her onto his lap. She tucked her head under his chin, playing with a free strand of his hair.

"The Kasshin have always been… unique to the human race… Born with magic and oh hell they know how to use it." He and Kenshin both flinched. "They've never liked Angels. Fallen or Non-Fallen. They hate them both equally. Don't ask me why I don't know how it started. When the incident with Kenshin's mother happened they were ready to kill him. – I was already cursed in that damn cat form so I was there. They decided to let him live and they basically used Kenshin as their attack dog in their war against the angels."

Kenshin tensed and Kaoru squeezed his hand.

"When they weren't killing angels they were doing other things. Manipulating the strands of the world, blackmailing various royal families, and insinuating themselves in dark plots taking place around the world. In a nutshell they were basically setting themselves up to rule the world." He snorted. "Alexander the Great has nothing on the Kasshin."

"So what happened?" Kaoru asked softly.

"All of their enemies – and they had a lot – attacked them all at once. That was when Kenshin's last mistress was killed and I zapped myself into the pendant along with Kenshin. We thought that the Kasshin had been destroyed completely." He nodded at her. "But obviously that isn't the case. The magic they used to bind us is weaker now – thus I am back in my regular form and no longer a cat."

"So could Kenshin be free of the binding?" Kaoru asked softly.

Arariel shook his head, "the binding of him to one of Kasshin blood is still intact and damn near unbreakable. But the ones restricting his powers are fading since they haven't been renewed in over a thousand years." He smiled wryly at Kenshin. "I'll give you a few days before interesting things start to happen."

"What kind of things?" Kenshin asked.

"Just take a look in the bible. They got some things wrong but that's basically the gist of what an angel can do – and you as a half-angel – even though it is a Fallen angel you descend from have all those powers. Or will have in a couple of days if I've judged the rate correctly."

"And here I don't have a bible in the house," Kaoru rolled her eyes.

"Just try not to smite anyone please." Arariel said.

Kenshin snorted. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Anything else we need to know?" Kaoru asked.

"You need magic lessons." Arariel informed her.

"Say what?"

"You are Kasshin. Thus you have magic in you. It needs to be awakened."

"Uh…" Kaoru blinked.

Magic.

She suddenly had the mental image of her stirring a cauldron.

Oh dear… is spell casting was anything like cooking…

"We'll start tomorrow," Arariel said.

"But I have classes!" Kaoru yipped.

"Forget about them for now. You need to be trained."

Kaoru tried to make herself smaller and whimpered. "Is this anything like cooking?"

"No," Arariel said.

"Oh good this may work out fine after all."

"It's harder than cooking."

"Oh fuck."

000

There was a curse.

"He's free."

"And the other one?"

"The bindings are loosening. We need to act fast before they fall away entirely."

"And the Kasshin bitch?"

The first one smiled grimly, "kill her and he'll be powerless and trapped oncemore."

"You know we can't let Him know anything about this don't you?"

A snort. "Of course not or else I'd better start slicing myself to fit into that hand basket and mail myself back to Hell."

"So she has to die."

"She's the last of that damned line. Of course she has to die."

"She dies and he he'll go back into that pendant." The second murmured.

"Exactly. And then we'll shatter the pendant, melt it, and drop it into the deepest pit of hell and he'll be gone forever."

"Good plan," the second sounded impressed.

"It isn't it?" The first one preened.

"And after that?" The second queried.

"Taking over Hell sounds fun."


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry it took so long to get this out.

Conflict for Kaoru and Kenshin and more to come

Enjoy!

Shiin

Arariel was right.

Magic was harder than cooking.

But at least when things exploded it was (usually) because they were supposed to.

The lessons started almost immediately. The actual spell-casting starting later. Kaoru spent several days just meditating to help focus her chi. It wasn't as hard as it could have been, years of Kendo and martial arts helping her, but at the same time it was really, really boring.

Kenshin made himself scarce during her lessons and Kaoru hated to see the look in his eyes when she'd finish up after a lesson, the scent of magic clinging to her.

His eyes held equal parts wariness and sadness and seeing it made her heart twist.

She didn't blame him. He had a long and bad history with magic especially when wielded by a Kasshin.

Kaoru wanted that look to fade in his eyes and disappear

"Today," Arariel announced, sitting cross legged across from her on the ground, wings folded against his back. "We will work on conjuring fire."

He was wearing a black t-shirt and pants that he had created himself. Kaoru was glad that he could just see clothes (Kenshin's) and copy a pair of his own, usually adding a twist or two here and there. The reaction to her bringing Arariel out in the daytime would have been near or equal that or Kenshin's.

"Fire?" Kaoru blinked in surprise. "You seriously want me to conjure fire?"

"Yes," Arariel nodded, smiling slightly at her expression. "Don't worry I've put a protective barrier around us."

Kaoru concentrated and felt the tingling against her skin.

"Okay," Arariel nodded. Kaoru still had to keep herself from calling him Demon. She could see so much of his former form in him that she often half-expected him to turn back into a cat.

"Kaoru."

Kaoru blinked, "huh? hmmm?"

"Pay attention," Arariel eyed her and she bit her lip.

"Sorry."

"Okay... as I was saying. Picture a flame in your mind and concentrate on holding that picture."

Kaoru nodded and closed her eyes, picturing a flame in her mind.

"Good," Arariel nodded.

"Now keeping the image in your mind open your eyes and concentrate on making it physical."

Kaoru opened her eyes slowly. She could still see the flame on the back of her mind and felt sweat bead her forehead. She concentrated harder... physical, physical...

There was a burst of light and suddenly Kaoru was staring at a tongue of fire hovering in front of her eyes.

"Good!" Arariel clapped. "Very good for your first try!"

Kaoru stared at the flame. "...I did that?"

"Yep," Arariel grinned at her expression. "You can touch it, it won't burn you. You created it."

Hesitantly Kaoru reached out and touched the flame. It was warm and the fire curved around her hand as she passed it through. Pulling her hand back she touched it wonderingly. It was warm but not burned.

Arariel shook his head in amusement at her expression. Kaoru raised her eyes and smiled wryly.

She felt more than heard Kenshin behind her and turned her head to see him staring past her and at the fire with something in his eyes that made her stomach lurch uncomfortably.

"Kenshin," Kaoru got to her feet and walked over to him.

He still hadn't moved, still staring at the flickering fire.

"Kenshin..." She touched his arm lightly.

He blinked rapidly and then jerked his arm away form her.

"Kenshin!" Kaoru tried again.

His eyes were dark and haunted. "Don't Kaoru... just don't..."

"But..." Kaoru tried, he whirled and vanished down the hallway before she could think of running after him.

"Why is he acting like this?" Kaoru asked Arariel softly.

"He's not had the best experiences with magic," Arariel murmured softly, rising to his feet. He waved at the little flame she had created and it extinguished itself.

"I know that!" Kaoru replied. "But, if he thinks just because I can do magic... I would never do anything to him with it!"

Arariel sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Do you know how many times he had been told that he would have magic used against him only to discover in the worst way possible they had lied to him?"

Kaoru closed her eyes remembering the brief glimpse she had seen of Kenshin's past.

Arariel shook his head, "what you saw is nothing. That was physical abuse. Magical abuse is so much worse than that. Compulsions... obedience spells... they did things to him that I cannot tell you and only he may speak of to you."

Kaoru felt a lump grow in her throat. "I'm not even that powerful - I'm not even trained." It amazed her at how easily she had grown used to the idea of magic. Used to the idea she was now living with two Fallen Angels, one of which who was her boyfriend... Kaoru found herself just waiting for the thing that would push her over the edge and land her in the loony bin.

"You're magic is awakening. Once it is fully awake, it will grow by leaps and bounds and training will become unnecessary, it will teach you itself."

Kaoru sighed.

"Though," Arariel admitted. "Kenshin is being an idiot acting like this."

Kaoru snorted, "no argument there."

Arariel made shooing motions at her, "go talk to him. I'm going to make lunch."

He shared Kenshin's love - and talent - at cooking and the two of them often traded making meals. It was either a Fallen Angel thing or being imprisoned magically/not truly being able to taste food thing.

Kaoru wasn't sure which.

All she knew she was now eating better than she ever had in her life and had learning magic not used up so much energy, she probably would be several pounds heavier than she was currently at the moment. As it was she still felt like Kenshin and Arariel wanted to fatten her up.

"Thanks," Kaoru smiled.

"Mmm..." Arariel murmured, mind already focused on planning lunch. "How do Swedish meatballs sound?"

Kaoru blinked at him, "someday you will have to tell me where the food comes from. Neither you nor Kenshin have been shopping recently. And you won't even let me near a supermarket unless it is to buy ice cream."

Arariel winked at her, "that's a secret. Now go pound some sense into that idiot's skull before I do it myself. And it's better you than me because; you're much nicer than I am about it."

"Will do," Kaoru replied.

Arariel hummed under his breath and walked into the kitchenette to make lunch.

Kaoru found Kenshin curled up in their bed on his stomach, wings stretched out across his back and head resting on his arms. The lights were turned off and he closed his eyes when she appeared and she frowned at him.

"Stop sulking."

"I am not sulking," he replied without opening his eyes.

"Laying here in the dark... alone… yeah that's sulking." She flipped on the light switch and closed the door behind her.

Kenshin hissed softly and opened an eye to glare at her. Looking for all the world like a very pissed off cat.

"Kenshin..." Kaoru sighed and stepped closer to the bed. "Talk to me please."

Kenshin pressed his lips together and shook his head. "There's nothing to talk about."

"Yes there is," Kaoru insisted.

"No there isn't."

Kaoru huffed at him. "Fine! Why are you acting like me learning magic from Arariel is the worst thing in the world?"

She could faintly hear the sound of his teeth grinding together but he didn't reply.

"I am NOT going to suddenly turn evil and abuse you." Kaoru snapped.

"You're about the fifty fifth person to say that." Kenshin muttered softly.

Kaoru closed her eyes and sighed. "I am not them. Don't compare me to them."

"You're still Kasshin," Kenshin's voice was a whisper.

"You seemed quite happy about that earlier if I may recall." Kaoru snapped.

"That was..." he stopped himself.

"Before I started learning magic?" Kaoru asked softly.

"Yes."

Kaoru bit her lip. "Do you think I'm evil?"

Kenshin's eyes flew open. "What?"

"Do. You. Think. I'm. Evil." Kaoru repeated slowly.

"No!"

"Do you think me learning magic will corrupt me or turn me evil?"

Kenshin's eyes shuttered and Kaoru balled her hands into fists.

"Kenshin..." Kaoru sighed softly. "I promise you. I will never use my magic against you. If... if it starts to corrupt me... I want you to kill me."

Kenshin's sharp intake of breath was loud and his eyes were huge in his face. "Kaoru..."

Kaoru shook her head, "no. You've been hurt too many times by too many people in your life. I... I won't add myself to that list if I can help it."

Kenshin uncoiled himself from the bed and stepped toward her, his eyes dark. "Kaoru..."

Kaoru's feet carried her the distance between them and she buried her face against his shoulder as his arms wrapped around her waist. "Promise me," she murmured.

"I can't..." Kenshin's voice was anguished.

"Then have Arariel do it... or Saitou..." Kaoru kept her face pressed against his shoulder, refusing to look at him.

"Are you sure?" The emotions in his voice made her heart break.

She nodded and raised her eyes to meet his. "Positive."

Kenshin closed his eyes tightly. "I'm so sorry."

Kaoru attempted a grin. "You have nothing to be sorry for. I would have asked this even if your reaction to me learning magic was different."

Kenshin's arms tightened around her and she sighed softly letting herself melt against him. Kenshin dipped his head to rest against the side of her neck and she wrapped her arms around his waist content for just to have them holding one another.

"I love you, you big idiot," Kaoru said softly after several moments.

"Love you," Kenshin replied his voice hushed.

"You promise then?" Kaoru touched his cheek and made him look at her. "You promise that if I start going insane or evil or something… that you will kill me?"

"I promise," it took several tries for Kenshin to say the words.

"Thank you," Kaoru kissed him gently on the mouth.

Kenshin sighed softly and pressed his face against her neck, fingers winding through her hair.

The rumbling of Kaoru's stomach made shake her head in exasperation. "Come on. Arariel has lunch made for us."

Kenshin nodded against her, pressing a light kiss against the skin of her neck and then let go of her. Kaoru threaded her fingers through his and together they stepped out of the bedroom.

Arariel was curled up in a chair at the kitchen table, cradling a cup of tea between his hands.

Two plates of meatballs and spaghetti were on the table a tongue of fire hovering over them to keep them warm.

The fires vanished as Kenshin and Kaoru sat down and began to eat.

"Kaoru?"

"Hmm?" Kaoru looked up at Arariel, her mouth full of meatball. "What?" She asked as she finally swallowed.

"How did your parents die?"

Kaoru blinked at the unexpected question. "When I was nine. They died in a car crash."

"Aa," Arariel murmured.

"Why do you want to know anyway?" Kaoru asked curiously.

"Just trying to figure out some of your family history since so much time has elapsed," he explained taking a sip of tea.

Kaoru could feel Kenshin's eyes on her and shook her head. "There's nothing much to tell really…. The Kamiya's were a low-positioned samurai clan who turned merchant after the Bakumatsu in order to flow with the change of times. Currently my family's – my company –" she made a face at that. "Is one of the richest manufacturing companies in the country."

"I see," Arariel murmured softly.

Kaoru shrugged, "Computer parts and plastics are what we specialize in. I couldn't tell you anything since anything that has to do with computers makes my head spin." She laughed softly. "My dad used to always shake his head about that."

"Is this your only property?" Arariel asked.

Kaoru snorted, "hardly. I have a hundred acre tract of land about two hours from the city. Haven't been back to the mansion in four years. Don't plan on anytime soon. Is there a reason you're asking me this?" She cocked her head at him.

"Yep," Arariel replied.

"The reason being?"

"The Kasshin have spell books which are tied to the bloodline much as Kenshin is." Arariel explained. "Since you being alive is evidence the Kasshin bloodline survives, the books survive as well."

"What do these books do exactly?" Kaoru asked voice suspicious.

"They contain old, old magic." Arariel explained. "Spells that have been forgotten."

"You think…?" Kaoru's eyes darted from Arariel to Kenshin.

"The spell for undoing Kenshin's binding might be in one of them." Arariel nodded, ignoring Kenshin's sharp intake of breath.

"Kenshin…?" Kaoru asked softly.

He shook his head, "I remember the books. I could never touch them as they were warded against me. The spell to unbind me may be there…" His pressed his lips together in a thin line. "The magic is very, very advanced and old and requires sacrifice. I will not let you do it, if it may cost you something dear."

"But don't you want to be free?" Kaoru asked.

Kenshin's eyes flashed. "More than anything, but not if it means you are hurt in the process."

Kaoru tried to smile, "I'm just beginning. I won't be up to the level the magic in the books – if they do indeed exist – for a very long time. You needn't fear."

Arariel grinned at Kenshin, "I wouldn't be much of a demon in charge of protecting people from stupidity if I let her tackle them without proper training."

Kenshin sighed and shoved himself away from the table, getting to his feet.

"Kenshin?" Kaoru asked softly.

"I'm going flying for a bit." He replied without looking at her.

Kaoru cursed softly as she watched him walk away.

000

Kenshin didn't come back for a long time and Kaoru curled up in one of the couches with a book to await his return. Arariel bid her goodnight and vanished into the second bedroom for his own sleep.

Kaoru sighed and put on some music and tried to concentrate on her book. A novel about a South American family of psychics and seers. It was a good story but she couldn't seem to read it, her mind was too busy.

Everything had become so complicated. Ok everything already had been very complicated ever since she'd unwittingly released Kenshin from the pendant – but Arariel's regaining his power and his form and teaching her magic only made it more so.

She'd managed to knock some of Kenshin's aversion to her using magic – or so she had thought – out of him, though the lines she had drawn made them both hurt. But if there was a chance she could unbind him, she would take it, whether he liked it or not.

He had been hurt too much – even though he hadn't told her a tenth of what had happened to him – she didn't want him to hurt anymore than he already had. He deserved his freedom.

She sighed and let the book drop onto the floor and laid her head on the armrest of the couch. She wanted him to stop hurting; she wanted all of them to stop hurting… Kenshin and Arariel had been abused by the Kasshin. Now Arariel – Demon – was free and she wanted Kenshin to be too.

Her eyes drifting close Kaoru sighed and gave herself up to sleep.

Kenshin descended the stairs from the trapdoor and pushed them back up neatly into the ceiling. The lights were still on in the apartment. Kaoru must have forgotten to turn them off as she went to bed.

Raking his hair out of his eyes he padded into the living room adjacent to the kitchenette to turn off the lights.

He found Kaoru curled up on the couch fast asleep.

She was smiling a bit sadly in her sleep, her hair curling around her face and he felt a stab of sadness. He could practically taste the magic in her. It had been dormant and weak when he'd first met her but after several weeks of Arariel's lessons it had grown stronger and he could feel it emanating off her in an almost tangible way.

He turned off the lights, eyes adjusting instantly to the dark and padded over to where she lay. Careful not to disturb her, he picked her up and carried her into the bedroom they shared.

Kaoru made a soft sound as he laid her down and covered her with the blankets. Vanishing his wings, he curled up alongside her and let sleep claim him.

Sometime during the night he felt Kaoru stir next to him, her movements fitful and jerky.

"Kaoru?"

"…Did I wake you?" Her voice was soft.

"Yes," he murmured.

"Sorry," there was a hitch in her voice that made him bite his lip.

"I'm the one that should be sorry."

Kaoru shook her head, her back still turned to him. "No… you have every right to feel that way… but dammit! It's _me_ Kenshin! _Me_! I'm not like the others. I _won't_ be like the others!"

She suddenly turned to face him and even though it was dark he could sense more than see the tears in her eyes.

"I've trusted you with everything. I've never questioned you and I've respected you. By all rights after what Shoutarou did to me I shouldn't even feel comfortable near a man, much less put my faith in one."

There was anger and sadness in her voice. "You knew what I was when you came out of that damned pendant. You knew and thus you knew what I was or could be capable of. But then at the first sign of me being what everyone says I am, you turn and retreat from me. Not willing to trust or believe that I am different." Her voice choked. "I am not them! I'd kill myself before becoming like those that hurt you!"

He reached her for and she slapped his hands away. "Don't! Don't touch me! Holding me and saying you love me doesn't make it all better because you don't believe the words that you tell me!"

"I love you." Kenshin murmured softly.

"You have a great way of showing it," Kaoru snapped.

Light suddenly flooded the room, tongues of fire dancing in the air above them.

Kenshin flinched and drew away but she grabbed his arm.

"Don't! Don't pull away Kenshin!"

Kenshin closed his eyes as the fire descended downward to hover a handbreadth above him.

"Open your eyes," Kaoru's voice booked no argument and so he did so.

She cradled a tongue of fire between her fingers, her other hand holding onto his wrist so that he couldn't pull away. She blew a soft breath and released it. It skittered across the skin of Kenshin's side and he closed his eyes expecting to be burned.

Instead he felt warmth fall over him like a blanket. Cautiously opening his eyes he saw that the fire had lined up across his side from shoulder to hip, just resting there.

"Do relax Kenshin," Kaoru's voice was sharp.

Kenshin stared at her and slowly let out the breath he'd been holding.

"I am not going to hurt you. I will never hurt you." Kaoru punctuated each word by vanishing a tongue of fire.

"I believe you," Kenshin said softly.

"Do you?" Kaoru's voice was softer but still held an edge.

"Yes," Kenshin said raising his eyes to meet hers.

"I believe you," Kaoru murmured echoing him. The final tongue of fire went out with a sharp snap with her words.

Kenshin felt the bed shift as she rolled off of it.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm sleeping on the couch. Good night."

The door slammed behind her.

000

Arariel raised his eyebrows as he walked into the living room to find Kaoru asleep on the couch.

He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Kenshin coming out of the bedroom.

"You two have a fight?" He questioned softly.

"Something like that," Kenshin said quietly.

"Then you better make it up to her. I suggest chocolate and caffeine."

He looked at Kaoru and stepped toward her but Arariel grabbed him. "Food first. She'll be less inclined to rip your head off."

Kenshin nodded and disappeared into the kitchenette to make breakfast.

Kaoru woke up a short time later to chocolate chip pancakes and fresh brewed coffee, which she ate without a word.

She was still angry and Kenshin thought it best to stay out of her way.

Afterward she took a quick shower and left murmuring something about going to the library.

000

Kaoru fumed as she stomped down the street. The people around her eyed her and stepped a bit to the side to give her berth. She fought the urge to snap at them, as a substitute for who she was really mad at.

Kenshin.

Gah, she thought they'd worked through his little insecurities – nope. Kaoru had hoped that by leaving the bedroom the night before and sleeping on the couch would give him time to think and then he would either have joined her on the couch or brought her back to bed.

Neither had happened.

So either he was still thinking and working through his problems or he was just being an ass.

Fine two could play at that game.

An 'I'm sorry I doubted you.' Would be nice. 'I love you and will never doubt you again.' Would be even better.

Dammit she'd basically bared her soul to him, demonstrated she would never hurt and told him that she loved him.

And what did she get?

An: I believe you.

Ok, great he "believed her."

Actions spoke louder than words and he hadn't done a thing to demonstrate that.

Kaoru sighed and ducked into a nearby bookstore cum café. After buying ten books and a chai latte she felt somewhat better. Picking up the nearest book to her she settled down in the overstuffed couch to read.

000

Arariel sighed softly as he eyed Kenshin who was looking every five minutes or so up at the clock.

"I'm going to go flying, do you want to come?"

Kenshin shook his head, "no thanks."

"Fine then," Arariel shrugged and left.

He returned a while later to find that Kaoru still hadn't come back and Kenshin was looking antsy. The apartment was sparkling and smelled of vanilla from the candles that Kenshin had managed to unearth. Kenshin was sitting on the couch with a cup of green tea.

"Do you think she's all right?" Kenshin asked softly, cradling a mug of green tea between his hands.

"She's fine. She'd call you if she needed you or something happened. Just give her some space." Arariel advised.

Kenshin nodded but still looked unconvinced.

Kaoru finally did turn up about two and a half hours later lugging a large black bag full of books. She dumped it on top of the table and both Arariel and Kenshin winced at the loud thunk it made. Still not speaking to either of them she stalked off into the backroom where she kept her bokkens.

"What does she have in there?" Kenshin asked softly eyeing the bag contemplatively. "Bricks?"

"I'm willing to bet it's not the karma sutra." Arariel murmured.

Kenshin choked on his green tea.

An hour and a half later the door was wrenched open and Kenshin caught a flash of Kaoru stomping down the hallway and into the bathroom. A moment later there was the sound of the shower going on and water running.

"How long is she going to stay mad?" Kenshin questioned.

"A long time?" Arariel offered.

"Obviously," Kenshin agreed.

The hinges squealed as Kaoru yanked the door open, clad in a towel with another wrapped around her hair and vanished back into the bathroom.

"Should we make lunch?"

Arariel shook his head, "I think I'll make it, if that's ok with you."

"Sounds good," Kenshin was torn between going into the bedroom and attempting to talk with Kaoru (which would probably result in getting his head bitten off) or just waiting for her anger to fade.

The phone ringing loudly brought Kaoru out of the bedroom. She had thrown on a tank top and jeans and her hair was pulled back into a high pony tail. She raced past them to grab it.

"Hi Misao!" Kaoru's voice was cheerful. "Going clubbing tonight? Sure sounds fun! Yes… I am fine… why are you asking? … Yeah well there's a first time for everything right? I guess you won't have to drag me out by my hair tonight…. Two hours? I'll be ready in an hour. Yes! I am feeling well, stop asking me that! Okay… Okay… I'll see you. Bye!"

She hung up and turned toward them. "Arariel do you want to come clubbing with us?"

Arariel did some quick calculations in his head… alcohol, dancing, drugs, and God only knew what else…. He shook his head, "no thanks the sheer amount of stupidity will make me homicidal. I'll go another time if that's fine with you? Kenshin will go with you."

Kaoru's eyes sharpened. "Fine, Kenshin get yourself ready I have to change."

Nope there was no invitation that could be found in that sentence.

Once more Kaoru disappeared into the bedroom, slamming the door loudly.

She reappeared about forty five minutes later and Arariel took one look at her, one look at the expression on Kenshin's face and shook his head in despair. The poor bastard didn't stand a chance…

Kaoru was showing more skin than with her previous outfit: a black silk halter that left a good portion of her stomach bare, a knee length mini-skirt that had a slit up her thigh. She was wearing a simple choker and long dangly earrings. She had curled her hair and pulled the front half out of her face with sparkly combs, but left the back of it hanging loose around her shoulders. On her feet were two inch sandal-like heels. Black eyeliner contrasted sharply against the blue of her eyes and she was wearing extremely shiny lip gloss.

Kenshin had changed as well into a blue mesh shirt that was the twin of his former clubbing gear a long with black leather pants and knee-high boots. Kaoru's eyes ghosted over him blankly.

Kenshin had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

This was not going to end well.

Kaoru jerked as the doorbell rang and opened it to a grinning Misao who let out a whistle.

"Maybe Megumi and I should let you pick your outfits more often."

Kaoru grinned wryly, "ready to go?"

"Yep!" Misao bounced. "Hi Kenshin!" She waved.

Kenshin nodded and Misao's eyes narrowed darting between him and Kaoru.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing," Kaoru replied. "Let's go."

Misao blinked at her and then nodded.

Once they reached the car Kaoru slipped into the front seat beside Misao, leaving Kenshin alone in the back. Kenshin closed his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth as Misao drove to the club.

Kaoru glanced over her shoulder at him once or twice her face expressionless as Misao drove.

Once they stopped in front of the club, Kaoru got out and vanished into the crowd. Kenshin made to follow her but Misao grabbed his hair and yanked, stopping him in his tracks.

"What did you do to her?" Misao's eyes were narrowed.

"Nothing," Kenshin said.

"Kaoru's pissed. And when she's pissed she withdraws and doesn't talk to who she's mad at. Since she's talking to me – a little – and not to you, that means she's mad at you. So what the hell did you do and talk fast before I grab Megumi and she breaks out the knives."

"It's not what I did – more of what I didn't do."

"Can't get it up?" Misao asked darkly.

Kenshin's eyes widened and he sputtered. "No!"

"Okay… so what is the problem?"

"It's a trust thing…" Kenshin said a bit uncomfortably.

Misao eyed him, "do I really want to know?"

Kenshin's face turned red. "Not that!"

"Oh good," Misao finally let go of his braid and crossed her arms over her chest still glaring. "Do we need to break out the knives?"

Kenshin blanched, "hopefully not. I'm going to work on it."

"Good boy," Misao smiled. "Then get to work."

They entered the club, Misao abandoning him when she caught sight of Aoshi and the others. Kenshin scanned around looking for Kaoru. He finally spotted her dancing off to the side… with another guy…

He didn't remember crossing the floor but then he was beside Kaoru.

"Hey!" Kaoru yelped as she suddenly found herself dragged away from the guy she was dancing with.

The guy she was dancing with stepped toward him, saw the look in his eyes and quickly decided against it, quickly backing away and then fleeing.

"Kenshin," Kaoru snarled. "Let go of me. Now."

"No." Kenshin replied shortly.

"Let go now!" Kaoru seethed.

"We are going home." Kenshin replied voice tense.

"No we are –" Kaoru's eyes widened as she suddenly realized they were no longer in the club and were in fact standing in the middle of her living room. "… not?"

She looked at him, "how did you do that?"

"… I have no clue," Kenshin replied looking around.

"That makes both of us," Kaoru replied, her anger having vanished.

Kenshin nodded, still looking around.

"Yes this is my apartment Kenshin," Kaoru said dryly.

"Just making sure," he muttered.

"Guess Arariel was correct when he said you'd be getting shiny new powers."

"Guess so," Kenshin replied. "But we are not going back to the club."

Kaoru narrowed her eyes at him and glared.

"Why are you acting like this?" Kenshin asked softly.

"Because you are still acting like an idiot," she snapped.

"And you aren't?"

"I'm not!"

"Yes you are. Being pissed at me and trying to piss me off because you are pissed at me is idiotic."

Kaoru grit her teeth fuming at him.

"Why are you still mad? Didn't I say I believed you and trusted you?"

"Yes but that's all you did!"

Kenshin blinked, "pardon?"

"You said you believed me and did nothing, absolutely nothing to show it." She touched his cheek with her fingertips. "You're still flinching when I touch you. You still have that look in your eyes... sad and wary. It wasn't there before my magic was awake and Arariel was training me in it."

Kenshin bit his lip, "I am trying."

"You've been abused magically for as long as you've been alive. The very binding between you and I is an abuse." Kaoru's voice was sad.

"You think that if I wasn't bound to you I'd walk away?" Kenshin said softly.

"I don't know what to think." Kaoru said. "You're bound to me whether you like it or not. As I am to you."

"Even if I wasn't bound to you, I'd stay with you."

"I believed you… before." Kaoru shook her head. "Now with the magic in me… if I you were not bound to me would you not run, just to escape, it regardless that it is me who wields it?"

"I…" Kenshin shook his head, bangs falling over his eyes. "I don't know… I hate the magic that runs in your veins… but I do not hate you. I could never hate you."

"I want you to be free. If the magic of the Kasshin has ever done one thing right by you I want you to be set free. I want to set you free. I'm not asking you to like the fact that I can use the magic in me. I'm just asking you to accept it."

"Why do I feel like we keep going in circles?" Kenshin asked wryly.

"Because you're being an idiot stuck in a rut?" Kaoru asked.

"I'm sorry. I believe you. I'll try?" Kenshin offered, pulling her against him and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "That better?"

"It's a start," Kaoru admitted.

"Not mad at me anymore?" Kenshin asked.

"A little," Kaoru replied. "Not going to be an idiot any more?"

"I'll do my best not to," Kenshin captured her mouth and felt her relax against him sighing.

"I love you," Kenshin murmured softly. "With magic or without – though I'd much prefer the later."

Kaoru snorted softly and tucked her head underneath his chin. "Idiot. If I could get rid of my magic for you I would… but everything in me tells me I can't. So we're both stuck with it."

Kenshin sighed and tightened his arms around her.

"So… what we going to do about your new shiny power?" Kaoru asked.

"I have some ideas…"Kenshin murmured.

Kaoru blinked as she suddenly found herself with him in the bedroom.

"You know that wasn't what I meant…"

"Mmm…" Kenshin murmured as bent his head to nip at her neck.

"Kenshin…" Kaoru moaned as his hands began to wander, his mouth following.

"We're alone. I've warded the apartment – for once we are not going to be disturbed." Kenshin's voice was determined.

"Arariel?" Kaoru asked faintly, trying to keep rapidly scattering thoughts together.

"He'll live." Kenshin's mouth captured hers once more effectively halting any further protests.

And for the rest of the night there were no more protests from either of them.


	8. Chapter 8

Okay… this is set in Japan but it's my fictionalized AU Japan, which is why I have taken the liberties to mess around with the culture, geography and to some extent history of it, just a little note so you all know.

- Shiin

000

Kaoru's first sensations of waking were warmth and a faint rumbling purr by her ear. Something was draped over her and a tentative touch told her that it wasn't her cover.

Opening her eyes slightly she blinked.

"Kenshin…" she poked him gently and he raised his head, eyes sleepy.

"Hmm…?"

"Since when do you have…" Kaoru counted. "Two...three… four wings?"

"What," he blinked, his head craned around and his eyes widened.

Kaoru's fingers itched to stroke them…

"Guess the new things you'd be getting didn't include powers." Kaoru commented.

He grinned at her eyes dark and flickering, "true."

Kaoru's eyes narrowed. "That was not an innuendo don't – mph!"

When he pulled away it was Kaoru who was purring.

"Mmm…" Kenshin drew her against him and she tucked her head underneath his chin, over his heart listening to it beat. Kaoru gave into her impulse to stroke his wings. Kenshin shuddered, wings twitching slightly at her touch and then sighed and relaxed against her.

"Feels good," he murmured against her hair.

"No one's…" Kaoru said softly.

"No one touched my wings except as punishment," Kenshin's eyes were dark.

Kaoru flinched remembering the brief flash of memory she had seen.

Kenshin pressed a kiss against her forehead and she sighed.

"It's late," she murmured eyeing the clock. "Don't want to get up," she snuggled closer eyes closing.

Kenshin laughed softly and wrapped his arms around her again, wings draping over the two of them.

Warmth and the sound of his heartbeat underneath her ear lulled Kaoru back to sleep.

The sound of Kaoru's stomach rumbling woke her.

Kenshin chuckled softly, his chest vibrating against her ear.

She lifted her eyes upward and made a face at him.

"Hungry?" He asked, eyes glinting.

"My stomach is at least," Kaoru muttered.

Kenshin pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Do you want me to get you something?"

Kaoru shook her head, "I'll get up and go with you. It's no fun being in bed alone."

Kenshin kissed her temple softly and rolled away from her, wings vanishing.

"Your tattoo has even changed," Kaoru commented. It was larger spanning the breathe of his shoulders and the design of it had changed to incorporate his new wings.

She sat up and pushed her hair out of her eyes. Kenshin tossed her a hair tie and she pulled her hair back into a low ponytail. Kenshin braided his hair deftly and waited while Kaoru scrambled around for something to wear.

"Ready," she tugged at the hem of her tank-top and went over to Kenshin to give him a quick kiss. "Let's get some food."

"Mmm," Kenshin replied though his thoughts weren't on food at the moment.

Nevertheless he followed her out of the bedroom and through the hallway to the kitchenette.

Arariel was nursing a cup of coffee in the kitchenette. He looked up when they appeared, looking tired.

"Thanks for not removing the ward until six thirty in the morning," he groused and gulped down some of the coffee.

He was drinking it straight Kaoru noted with no milk or sugar to sweeten the taste.

That was probably not a good thing.

"Rough night?" Kaoru asked softly.

"If the news says anything about many people having died mysteriously… I didn't do it." He replied. "People in this century are amazingly stupid…" He avoided Kenshin and Kaoru's gazes, whistling innocently under his breath.

Kaoru glanced at the TV and thought it best to keep it turned off.

"Can't you just soundproof your room or something?" Arariel complained. "Unless you didn't stay in the bedroom all night…" He shuddered. "I haven't had enough sleep, and I don't want to think about that. Pretend I said nothing."

He flinched at Kenshin's glare and Kaoru sputtering at him. "Didn't I mention that I'm very sleep-deprived at the moment?"

"Obviously," Kaoru remarked. "Need more coffee?"

"Please," Arariel held the mug out to her and she took it and poured more coffee into it and put the kettle on to boil for tea.

Kenshin glared at Arariel again and then moved toward the refrigerator and started pulling out food to cook for breakfast.

"Here," Kaoru placed the coffee down in front of him and he snapped it up and started drinking again.

"Remember the shiny new things you'd been saying Kenshin will be getting?" Kaoru asked.

"Yep," Arariel glanced at her over the rim of the mug.

"Well they're appearing." Kaoru said.

"Fun," Arariel grinned. "Kenshin what's new?"

Kenshin glanced over from where he was scrambling the eggs and turned slightly so that Arariel could see his back.

Arariel let out a low whistle. "Four-wings, you lucky bastard."

"What do they mean?" Kenshin asked softly.

"You're father was a high-ranking angel." Arariel replied. "The more wings you have the higher in rank you are."

"Why do you have two?" Kaoru asked softly.

"Me?" Arariel shrugged. "I'm just a wielding-death-to-stupidity low-ranking nobody."

"And Kenshin has four because…?"

"Kenshin's father was either someone very highly ranked or very powerful, probably both." Arariel eyed Kenshin noting how he tensed.

"Will I be getting any more new wings?" Kenshin asked his voice even.

Arariel shrugged, "hard to tell. Your powers are unlocking. Haven't gotten any new powers have you?"

"Yes," Kenshin said.

"Oooh," Arariel's grin widened. "Do tell!"

"Teleportation."

"That's a fun one."

"Yes," Kaoru murmured softly, ducking her head.

Arariel noticed and winked at her.

"Kettle's boiled!" Kaoru leapt to her feet and grabbed two mugs and teabags and poured some of the freshly boiled water into them and set them down to steep for a moment.

Kenshin finished making the scrambled eggs and bacon and set the plates down. Accepting his tea from Kaoru, they all dug in and for several moments no one talked.

"So… Kaoru…." Arariel murmured.

"Hmm?" Kaoru asked.

"How far is your family's property from Tokyo?"

Kaoru thought for a moment, "about an hour on the Shinkansen."

Arariel nodded.

"I can get the tickets after we clean up after breakfast." Kaoru said.

"You do that while Kenshin and I clean up."

Kenshin didn't look very happy but attempted a smile and she squeezed his hand before getting up and calling the station.

For the next hour Kaoru rushed about getting her things together. Kenshin and Arariel had nearly nothing except a few books that she had bought Kenshin and Arariel's visual-kei CDs.

Kenshin tidied everything up and everything was in its place and would be waiting for their return whenever they got back from Kaoru's family's mansion.

The ridge to the station wasn't as bad as it could have been. Kenshin wasn't as tense as before either because he'd started to get used to being in car or that Kaoru was seated in his lap and letting him run his fingers through the hair.

Arariel looked to be enjoying himself, he had taken better to the modern era than Kenshin had and was constantly marveling over how efficient and productive things had become. He may think many of today's inhabitants were stupid but he had a deep appreciation for technology – mainly his mp3 player and the video games Kaoru had bought him.

Arariel drooled over the Shinkansen and Kenshin regarded with some trepidation.

Kaoru had to drag both of them onto it. Kenshin because he was saying, how it'd be easier to just teleport himself there; until Arariel pointed out that he did not know what it looked like or where exactly he was going and he could end up getting hurt as a result - and Arariel who wanted to stare it some more.

Kenshin and Arariel both took the window seats. Kenshin, so he could distract himself with the scenery and Arariel so he could gape and squeal over how fast they were going.

"Better than a car," he said.

Kenshin grunted something that sounded like an agreement.

Kaoru curled up beside him and went to sleep.

Kenshin shook her awake a short time later. Arariel was standing with her bags in his hands.

"This is the stop," he said.

Kaoru nodded and got to her feet. Kenshin wrapped his arm around her waist and the three of them exited the Shinkansen.

Kaoru pondered over what vehicle of transport to take to her family's estate. Rent a car? Taxi?

She had dismissed most of the servants after her parent's deaths. Once a week a quartet of maids went to the mansion to clean, and there was a gardener who looked after the outside but besides that everyone was gone.

Eventually Kaoru decided to rent a car.

The drive to the mansion was uneventful but tense. Kaoru – because she hadn't been back in nearly three years, and Kenshin because – well he was in a car and he hated cars.

Arariel seemed the only one to be having a good time, nearly hanging him head out the window of the car in a manner that reminded Kaoru more of a dog than the cat he had previously been.

They pulled up the gates and Kaoru stepped out of the car. There was a panel of numbers below the golden kanji that said her family name – Kamiya. She punched in the code and then pressed her hand against the scanner for it to read and identify her. Later, she promised herself she would add Kenshin and Arariel.

The outside was spotless, flowers blooming everywhere she looked. Kaoru sighed, remembering how her mother had always loved the flowers. She drove up the long winding driveway to the house and pulled to a stop in front of it.

Arariel blinked, "big house."

"Had to be," Kaoru said softly. "In my great-grandfather's time – he was the one who built it – he had thirteen children."

"What happened to all of them?" Kenshin asked.

"War... disease…death in childbirth… insanity – I had a great-Aunt Miyoko who was put into a sanitarium where she died."

"Aa," Arariel said.

Kaoru shrugged and got out of the car, the others following.

She dug around her pocket for the house-key and finally found it slipped it into the lock and turned.

The door swung away from them with a soft creak and they entered, Kaoru flipping on the lights as she stepped forward.

Now Kaoru remembered why she didn't like the house.

It reminded her of a mausoleum.

The walls were stark white and works of art hung from them. Kaoru counted them to make sure that none had been stolen in her absence. All were where they should be. She needn't bother even counting, the families of the maids and gardener had been serving hers so long they'd commit seppuku before thought of stealing anything from the Kamiya family as much as entered their mind.

Their footsteps echoed loudly and Kaoru flinched, when she was young the house had echoed with laughter and music – now the echoes just reminded her more and more that everything she had held dear to her before her parents death was gone and how alone that had left her.

Not alone anymore, since Kenshin's appearance. But she had been alone.

The house was a blend of east and west. Shoji screens and tatami mats and western-style fireplaces and beds and chair and tables.

Everything was spotless and where it should be, Kaoru mentally thanked those who had been looking after the house for her.

Kaoru brought her bags in from the car and left them in one of the guest bedrooms. She didn't know if she could sleep in her old room, and she wouldn't go near her parents' bedroom. In her mind it was still theirs - not hers. She would never have been able to sleep there.

"You ok?" Kenshin asked softly coming into the room she had chosen, where she was unpacking. "You've been really quiet."

Kaoru managed a smile, "just feels weird to be back here without my parents."

"Ah," Kenshin nodded. He opened his arms and Kaoru leaned against him, resting her head against his shoulder and just letting him hold her.

There was a soft knock against the doorframe of the room and both Kenshin and Kaoru looked up to see Arariel standing in the doorway.

"I'm making tea, do you want some?"

Tea would be very welcome at this time.

Kaoru pressed a kiss to Kenshin's cheek and he let go of her and they followed Arariel back to the kitchen.

The refrigerator was empty but the cabinets still held tea – and Kaoru regarded them with some wariness – cookies and chocolate.

Mentally wondering how they had not been overrun with ants yet, Kaoru chucked the chocolate and cookies into the bin and resolved to go shopping later for food.

She accepted the tea from Arariel and sipped it, feeling herself just starting to relax.

"What's next?" Kaoru asked softly. "We look for the books?"

Arariel nodded, "sounds good."

"We need to get some food first," Kenshin said.

Kaoru stuck her tongue out at him, "are you just hungry or do you want to cook?"

Kenshin grinned, "both."

"Trip to the supermarket later," Kaoru decided.

Arariel nodded in agreement.

Kaoru sighed and closed her eyes.

"This is hard for you isn't it?" Kenshin said softly.

Kaoru nodded, "I keep expecting to see my parents just around the corner."

"How long has it been?" Arariel asked.

"Nearly three years," Kaoru replied.

"And you are the last." Kenshin said softly, his eyes dark.

Kaoru read the thoughts in her eyes and her stomach clenched. The last of the Kasshin that she knew of. If she died Kenshin would be sent back to the pendant that she wore around her neck - and with no more people who carried the Kasshin bloodline alive, he would be stuck there forever.

That was the least...

If she died...

Kaoru shook her head, flinging the thoughts away from her. 'Thinking about my parents' death has made me morbid,' she thought.

She leaned against him and he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Love you," she murmured softly.

He pressed a kiss against her forehead, "love you too."

Arariel shook his head, "you two are a bunch of saps," and then ducked the plate that Kaoru threw at him. He raised his hand and its descent to the floor slowed and then stopped and he levitated it back to the table where he set it down with a gentle thud.

Kaoru watched him and he grinned at her. "That will be your next lesson."

"Making things float?" Kaoru asked.

"Yep," Arariel nodded.

"Sounds fun," Kenshin tensed against her and then sighed, relaxing slightly.

"I promise to try not to send everyone flying," Kaoru joked.

"The only flying I'll be doing will be with my wings," Kenshin said but his tone was light and she smiled at him.

He was trying.

Slowly but surely.

"Mmm," Kaoru murmured. "You need to take me flying again."

"I'll do that," Kenshin promised.

"So," Kaoru turned to Arariel, "what will we be practicing with?"

"Plates?" Arariel suggested.

Kaoru eyed the plate in front of her. "Do you know a fixing spell? I'm going to end up breaking a lot of these simply because they are kitchen-type things and I don't do well with kitchen-type things."

"I do," Arariel said.

"Be prepared to use it a lot," Kaoru warned.

It ended up that he had to.

After explaining the basics of how to levitate things – basically concentrate and picture it floating – which sounded simple enough, Arariel started tossing plates into the air.

The first five all hit the ground with a resounding crash and pieces flying everywhere.

Arariel sighed and placed them back together, the cracks smoothing and disappearing and the plate now whole.

Kaoru tried again.

And again.

And again.

She was glaring at the plates now, her eyes narrowed and her teeth grinding together.

"Let's try something different," Arariel suggested. "You fix the plates first."

He handed her the pieces of the most recently shattered plate and gave her the instructions for forming it back together.

Her fixing attempts went better than her levitating attempts.

Sure the plate was bumpy and dipped in places where it shouldn't but it was whole.

They tried again.

And again.

And again.

Kaoru was swearing now, and glaring at her newly fixed plates (she was getting better at fixing them, she thought grudgingly – they now looked absolutely perfect. But it was more practice for that particular thing than she would have liked).

"If any of you laugh I am going to hurt you," she warned glaring at Arariel who had a twinkle in his eye and Kenshin who was coughing discreetly.

"Gah!" She placed the most recent disaster back together and crossed her arms over her chest, pushing away from the table. "I. Hate. Kitchen. Things."

Arariel muttered something under his breath that she didn't catch. When she looked at him he merely smiled serenely at her.

"Maybe I need to get out of the kitchen," Kaoru murmured. "It's giving me bad vibes."

Kenshin snorted and she elbowed him.

"Don't tell me you can levitate things."

"Easily," the three newly repaired plates rose several inches from the table and started twirling around.

Kaoru's glare turned evil.

She focused on the plates and they suddenly darted from where they were floating, hung over Kenshin's head for a moment and then came crashing down upon him.

He yelped and Arariel snickered.

"You haven't yet learned not to piss off Kaoru," he tsked.

Kenshin ducked his head and rubbed it gingerly.

Kaoru leaned over and kissed his cheek, "sorry."

"I deserved it," he gave her a sheepish smile.

"No argument there," Arariel quipped.

"Arariel you can repair the plates now," Kaoru said.

Arariel's face fell and he groaned.

"I'm going to order something to eat since we don't have any food in the fridge," Kaoru said. "What do you feel like?"

They decided on Chinese and Kaoru placed the order, which arrived twenty minutes later.

Happily content with eggrolls and mu-shu pork, Kaoru snuggled against Kenshin as they ate.

Arariel was opening the fortune cookies and rolling his eyes at the cheesy saying they contained.

"Did you grow up here?" Kenshin asked.

"Yes," Kaoru replied.

Kenshin tried to imagine Kaoru as a child and the image that popped into his head made him smile.

She sighed tiredly and rested her head against his shoulder, nearly falling asleep.

Carefully Kenshin got to his feet and picked her up.

"Bed for you."

"Mmm," she replied.

Arariel shook his head as he watched Kenshin leave, carrying Kaoru in his arms.

"Sure leave me with the clean up." He eyed the empty cartons and zapped them, the cartons disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Angelic powers 1. Take-out 0.

Kaoru snuggled under the covers and all but melted against Kenshin as he climbed in beside. She rolled over and tucked her head underneath his chin, wrapping her arms around his waist and sighing sleepily as he cradled her against him.

"Good night," she could feel his smile as he kissed her forehead.

"'Night," she yawned.

She was asleep almost instantly and Kenshin followed quickly behind her.

000

Kaoru woke early.

Kenshin was still asleep beside her and she smiled. The early morning light streaming through the windows highlighted the contours of his face and touched it with gold. She kissed him gently at the corner of his mouth and his eyelids fluttered.

"Good morning," she smiled at him.

"Good morning," he echoed, blinking sleepily. In the light his golden eyes were as clear and light as honey.

"It is a good morning," Kaoru said.

Kenshin arched an eyebrow, "in a good mood?"

"Yep," she grinned at him. "Could be better though."

"Oh? And how exactly could it be better?"

"I have some ideas," Kaoru said innocently.

"Good ideas?"

Kaoru wound her fingers in a lock of his hair and used it to pull his mouth to hers. "Very good ideas."

Kenshin had to agree.

A while later Arariel knocked on the door.

"Are you two lovebirds going to get out of bed sometime before noon?" He asked.

Kaoru glanced at the clock, it read eleven fifty five.

"No." She called back.

"I made cake," he replied through the door.

Kaoru blinked.

Arariel making cake.

She looked at Kenshin who stared back at her.

"He hasn't made cake before," Kenshin said.

"If it's anything like everything else he cooks…"

Kaoru threw back the covers and was out of the bed.

"Hey!" Kenshin said. "You choose cake over me?"

Kaoru sniffed the air, "it's chocolate cake Kenshin. I love you, but you're outnumbered. I can resist cake. I can resist chocolate. But I cannot resist chocolate cake."

Kenshin pouted and she leaned over to kiss him.

"Besides, there might be frosting," Kaoru said.

Kenshin pout vanished.

Frosting had possibilities…

"Fine," Kenshin said.

Kaoru grinned at him, "knew you were smart. If you tried to get between me and the chocolate cake I might have hurt you."

"As long as you kiss it better."

Kaoru laughed and darted away from him to throw on a tank top and jeans.

Kenshin finally got out of bed and they walked down the hallway to the kitchen where Arariel was placing slices of chocolate cake onto plates.

"Cake for breakfast," Kaoru shook her head.

"Considering the time it is, call it brunch." Arariel slid one of the plates over to her. It skittered past Kaoru and started falling to the floor.

"My cake!" Kaoru yelped, leaping for it.

It paused its descent and hovered several inches above the ground.

Kaoru looked up at Arariel and Kenshin, "are you doing that?"

They shook their heads.

Kaoru blinked, "it's levitating because I want it to..."

"Try lifting it," Arariel said.

Kaoru eyed the hovering plate and thought.

It rose obediently into the air and settled lightly down upon the table.

"Motivation," Arariel said with some satisfaction. "Knew you could do it."

Kaoru stuck her tongue at him and turned to look behind her. The drawer door opened and a fork levitated and zipped to her hand.

"It's like a doorway I guess," Kaoru commented, stabbing a piece of cake and lifting it to her mouth. "Once it's open and I know how to do it, it just swings all the way open."

The cake was delicious, chocolatey and still warm from the oven. Arariel must have done something to the frosting to keep the heat of the cake from melting it. She decided.

"I went shopping while you two were still in bed." Arariel informed her.

"Find what you need?" Kaoru asked.

"Mmm," Arariel agreed. "I also bought some new cookbooks with interesting recipes; I might make one or two dishes for dinner."

"Sounds fun," Kaoru commented noting the way Kenshin's eyes lit up at the prospect of food and cooking.

She shook her head.

Men.

While the two of them grinned at one another and started discussing food she cleaned up the table and placed the cake into a Tupperware container and put it into the fridge to eat later.

"I'm going to go for a walk, is that ok?"

"Do you want me to come with you?" Kenshin asked.

She shook her head and smiled at him. "I just want to go exploring. The village has changed since I left it and there are a couple new shops that have gone up. Be good, and I might bring you back something."

Kenshin smiled, "have fun."

Kaoru gave a salute. "I intend to."

000

The village bustled cheerfully around Kaoru. It had grown bigger in her absence and was now more of a small city than the tiny town she had lived in as a child.

She was stopped a couple of times by villagers who recognized her and came over to say hello and inquire how she was doing. The questions mostly consisted of 'how are you?' 'how is school?' 'do you have a boyfriend yet?' 'are you getting married?' etc. etc.

Kaoru answered what she could and avoided what she didn't feel like replying to.

A new bookstore had appeared where the old arcade had been; the arcade had moved down the street and grown twice as large. Kaoru popped into the bookstore first to buy some books. She bought Kenshin another history books and caught sight of _The Hitchhikers Guide to Galaxy_, which she thought Arariel might enjoy and added that to her stack.

Humming under her breath she went from shop to shop, buying this and that and feeling better than she had in a long time. Tokyo was wonderful but it lacked her village's charm.

The village was situated near to the ocean, which ran alongside its series of cliffs. Kaoru had spent many a happy day there with her parents fishing or just enjoying the sunshine and playing games.

Almost without thinking about it, she found her feet taking the familiar path up to the cliffs. The air smelled strongly of salt and a faint mist covered everything.

Kaoru smiled and picked up her pace. Tokyo was wonderful and all but nothing compared to living right next to the sea.

She set her bags down and let out a sigh at the sight stretching out before her. The sun sparkled off the ocean, against the cliffs waves crashed in a seething mixture of white foam and spray that was almost hypnotic.

So engrossed in watching the ocean before her, she didn't sense anyone near to her until there was a flicker at the corner of her eye a split second before something hard crashed against the side of her head. Kaoru registered that she was falling to the ground and then everything went black.

000

Arariel eyed the bubbling soup in front of them. "Do you think we need more carrots?"

"It looks good," Kenshin shook his head. "You might want to add some more peas."

"This isn't pea soup Kenshin," Arariel protested. "It's stew."

Kenshin started to reply and then went stiff his eyes widening.

"What is it?" Arariel asked softly.

"Kaoru…"

And then Kenshin disappeared.

000

When Kenshin opened his eyes he was standing near a cliff. A snarl worked its way upward in his throat and his vision went red at the scene before him.

A black-winged angel was holding Kaoru by her throat. Her eyes were closed and skin pale, head lolling on her neck.

"Let her go," Kenshin snarled.

"Now what would be the point in that?" The other angel cocked his head at Kenshin golden eyes light. "You'd just kill me."

"You kill her and I'd kill you. Only much slower and more painfully."

"If she's dead then you are back in that pendant and you won't be killing anyone."

Kenshin took a step toward him and the angel shook his head, "no, no, no. You don't want to be doing that. Do you have any idea how easy it would be to break her next? All I'd have to do is squeeze my fingers just so…"

"I can still kill you before being pulled back into the pendant." Kenshin snarled.

The angel shook his head, "you can't."

"Do you really want to test that theory? Let her go and don't harm her and I may just let you live. You have a chance. Kill her and I'll kill you before you can blink"

The angel regarded him warily. "Fine… Take her…" Before Kenshin could react he had swung around and flung Kaoru off the cliff.

Kenshin didn't even think, he just reacted – diving after her.


	9. Chapter 9

Kenshin dove, wings erupting from his back and then streamlining against him as he plummeted after her.

He caught Kaoru, crushing her against his chest, his wings flared and gave a strong flap that slowed them and then stopped their descent.

She was unconscious, a ring of bruises encircling her throat and another one at her temple, he choked back a snarl.

The angel would pay for hurting her. When he was done he would begging for death.

Kenshin closed his eyes and transported them back to the house.

Arariel jumped to his feet when Kenshin appeared with Kaoru in his arms. His eyes widened at the sight they made. He stepped toward them and then took that step back as he caught sight of the expression on Kenshin's face.

"Is she ok?" He asked softly.

Kenshin shook his head silently and carried her into the bedroom, Arariel following a few steps behind and watching quietly as he laid her down on the bed.

Kenshin's face was grim as he bent over and examined her. Kaoru was pale but breathing steadily if shallowly... Already he could see bruises forming on her skin darkening... He nearly bared his teeth.

"Take care of her," Kenshin said turning to Arariel.

Watch her.

Protect her.

"What are you doing?" Arariel asked. There was a look in Kenshin's eyes that he hadn't seen for a long, long time and a smart person would have backed away quickly and taken off running.

"Finding who hurt her."

"How?" Arariel asked softly.

The look that Kenshin gave him made him keep his mouth wisely shut. His eyes had turned so dark they were nearly black and there was a tension about him that spoke of violence and that blood would be shed.

Don't ask and I won't have to tell you.

"Do you need help?"

"No," Kenshin shook his head. "Just take care of her."

Arariel nodded and Kenshin vanished.

Arariel let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding as Kenshin disappeared. Murmuring softly he called for a medicinal case and set to work on healing Kaoru. She would be fine.

Whoever hurt he wouldn't.

000

Hours later he returned.

If Kenshin had unnerved him earlier, Arariel was downright scared now.

His eyes were a dark gold and glittered in the light. His face was pale and everything about him hummed with a focused energy that had not been as powerful in the hours before now.

Arariel had told him to be careful about smiting people.

It appeared he had forgotten that little note of advice.

There wasn't a scent of blood or taint of magic clinging to him.

Nothing.

Nada.

Zilch.

Which either meant Kenshin had gotten covered in blood and cleaned it off so thoroughly you couldn't sense it.

...Or he had killed him in a way that did not involve spilling blood.

Arariel was suddenly sharply reminded of the fact that Kenshin had spent much of his life being tortured.

You couldn't be tortured yourself without picking up a few tips on how to do it.

Kenshin was unmarked and unwounded. Arariel would have almost preferred him to appear with blood covering him. Almost…

"How is she?" His voice was calm... with notes of concern for Kaoru... but otherwise his it was completely and utterly calm.

Arariel felt his stomach twist.

"She's sleeping," he told him softly. "I gave her a healing potion and she's doing well."

Kenshin nodded his eyes distant.

"Did he say anything about who sent him?" Arariel asked carefully.

"No," Kenshin murmured. "He tore out his own tongue before I could ask him that."

Despite himself Arariel flinched.

"How did you find him?" Arariel almost dreaded the answer.

"I just pictured him and teleported myself to where he was." Kenshin said.

Oh good... there went his thoughts of Kenshin performing blood sacrifices or committing mass murder on his way to finding him.

Arariel was relieved... slightly.

"I Protect and Serve, Arariel," Kenshin said softly.

"You weren't like this before..." Arariel said carefully.

"I Served," Kenshin corrected him. "But now I Protect. I Protect Kaoru because I want to-because I love her... I'm still the Kasshin's attack-dog even though the leash that is holding on to me is different." Something flickered in his eyes, a mixture of emotions Arariel couldn't decipher.

He nodded wordlessly.

Kenshin's closed his eyes and shook his head. When he opened them again his eyes had shifted back slightly to their regular golden color and he sighed softly. "I'm going to go check on Kaoru."

"Are you hungry?" Arariel offered. "I... could make something?"

"No," Kenshin shook his head. "But thank you."

He turned and headed toward their bedroom and Arariel watched him go wondering if there was enough alcohol in the house to get drunk on.

He had been around a pissed off Kenshin before.

But a possessive-concerned-pissed off Kenshin was a whole other story.

Hopefully only one person – the angel that had harmed Kaoru had died – with Kenshin, Arariel wasn't able to tell at the moment.

'I think we passed a bar on the way here yesterday,' he mused. 'I might take go visit… who knows I might find some stupid people to put out of their misery.' With that optimistic thought in mind he left the house in haste.

000

Kaoru was still asleep, Kenshin saw as he entered the room. The healing potion Arariel had given her, kept her unconscious while her body healed. Her breathing had even out and was deeper and the bruises around her neck and at her temple appeared to have faded a little.

He sighed feeling calmer just being around her.

Better.

He curled up against her on the bed and pulled her into his arms.

Kaoru made a soft sound and snuggled against him.

Kenshin pressed a kiss against her forehead and let his wings appear and cover her.

She was safe.

She was with him.

No one could hurt her.

No one would hurt her as long as he was near her.

And if they tried…

His arms tensed slightly around her.

He wouldn't let them.

000

Kaoru's head ached faintly and she felt groggy. There was an odd taste in her mouth, faintly metallic and bitter. She swallowed several times in an effort to rid her mouth of it even before she attempted to open her eyes.

She was pressed against something… someone… Breathing deeply she inhaled the scent of ginger. There were arms wrapped around her waist and holding her tightly.

Kenshin.

What was she doing… last thing she remembered was being at the cliff…

She opened her eyes slightly and blinked to find Kenshin watching her with a look in his eyes that worried her.

"What…?" She asked.

Kenshin's arms tightened around her and he buried his face in the hollow of her neck.

"Kenshin…?" He was shaking slightly.

"What's the matter?" She asked softly, a lump growing in her throat.

"You don't remember do you?" His voice was so low she barely heard it.

"Remember what…?" Kaoru's brows furrowed. The last thing she remembered was watching the sea and then… nothing.

"Why does my head hurt?" She murmured.

"An angel attacked you," Kenshin's voice was soft but the growl in it made her eyes widen. "You are never leaving my sight again."

"Kenshin…" Kaoru said.

"Ever." He told her firmly.

"Kenshin…" Kaoru tried again.

"If I have to chain myself to you…"

"Kenshin!" Kaoru snapped interrupting him.

He blinked at her. "…Yes?"

"Tell me what happened and stop acting like an idiot."

"Not acting like an idiot," he protested, eyes narrowing.

"Yes, you are." Kaoru retorted. "Tell me what happened before I hit you."

Despite himself, Kenshin smiled. If Kaoru was making threats she had to be fine. And the look in her eyes confirmed it, she was ready to smack him hard if he didn't calm down and explain himself.

"An angel attacked you," Kenshin repeated.

"I gather that much from the way my head is hurting," Kaoru said.

"Your head is hurting?"

Kaoru batted away his hands, glaring at him.

"Yes it is and if you touch me I'll bite your hands off. Tell me what happened after the angel attacked me."

"Fine," Kenshin raked a hand through his hair. "I sensed you being attacked and arrived to find you being strangled and held over the edge of a cliff."

Kaoru flinched. "And...?" She prodded gently.

"He threatened to kill you. And then flung you off the cliff and got away."

Kaoru blinked, "what did you do?"

"Caught you and brought you back here."

There was something in his tone of voice that had Kaoru narrowing her eyes at him. "And what else?"

"Nothing," Kenshin replied.

"You're leaving something out aren't you?"

"No I'm not…"

"Kenshin you can't lie to save your life. What did you do?"

"Found the angel and killed him," some of the snarl came back into his voice and she raised her eyebrows at him.

"Dare I ask how you killed him?"

Kenshin pressed a kiss to her forehead, "You don't want to know."

Kaoru winced, "I'd rather you tell me than have my mind come up with scenarios."

"Itorehimlimbfromlimbandthenburnedthepieceandscatteredtheashes…" Kenshin muttered quickly.

"Say it slowly," Kaoru told him.

"I tore him limb from limb, then burned the pieces and scattered the ashes." He had done more but Kaoru didn't need to know about that.

"Oh," Kaoru said faintly, her eyes widened and she paled slightly

Kenshin avoided her eyes.

"Kenshin?" She touched his cheek and forced him to look at her.

"Yes?" He asked softly.

"I'm fine with the fact that you… killed him. Just… don't… make it a habit okay?" Kaoru bit her lip.

"You aren't… disgusted?"

"You had a reason," Kaoru closed her eyes – she was the reason. "You aren't just doing it simply because you can."

"No I'm not," Kenshin said.

"Did he suffer?" Kaoru asked.

Kenshin blinked. Did she really want to know?

"Not too much," he told her. At least not after he'd torn his head off…

Kaoru relaxed slightly against him, "good."

"Good that he didn't suffer?" Kenshin blinked at her.

"Yes, good," Kaoru informed him.

Kenshin blinked at her again and decided to drop that subject.

"Do you want anything to eat?" He asked.

"Maybe something warm to drink," Kaoru murmured. "My throat still hurts a little."

"We have some honey and lemon in the kitchen. I can fix you a drink." Kenshin offered.

Kaoru smiled, "that sounds nice."

Kenshin dropped a kiss on her cheek, "I'll be right back. Stay there."

"Mmm," Kaoru murmured and snuggled back against the sheets.

Kenshin reappeared a moment later with a mug of hot lemon tea.

Kaoru sat up and accepted the mug from him, waiting as he settled himself around her before drinking. It made her throat feel better to drink it. The hot water along with honey soothed it.

Sighing Kenshin curled around her.

Kaoru sipped at her drink and when she finished Kenshin levitated it onto the bedside table.

"Better?" Kenshin asked softly.

"Yes," Kaoru said quietly.

His fingertips ghosted over the bruises ringing her neck and his eyes narrowed. Kaoru gasped softly as he lowered his mouth to her neck retracing the path he had taken with his fingers. His tongue flicked out gently stroking her skin.

With another gentle kiss against her neck, he captured her mouth with his and Kaoru sighed, melting against him. His kiss was tender but there was a note of possessiveness to it. He nipped her bottom lip, tongue slipping inside her mouth to tangle with hers. His hand came up to cup the back of her head as he kissed her.

He pulled away and pressed a light kiss at the corner of her mouth and then nuzzled at her throat gently, mindful of the bruises. He sighed and she shivered as his breath fluttered over her skin.

"I am sorry." He murmured.

"For what?" Kaoru blinked.

"You got hurt."

"It wasn't your fault," Kaoru repeated. "Didn't we just have this conversation already?"

"Yes," Kenshin murmured softly.

"So let's stop having it already."

"If you say so," Kenshin sighed and nuzzled her hair, breathing her scent deep in an effort to calm himself. Kaoru sighed and tucked her head underneath his chin, his arms wrapping around her.

She was still tired. Whatever she had been given was making her groggy. With a sigh she pressed her nose into the hollow of his throat and felt her body relax against him.

"Tired," she murmured softly.

Kenshin's arms tightened around her ever so briefly. "Go to sleep."

"Mmm…" Kaoru murmured. "Stay with me?"

"Of course," He was never leaving her side again.

Her eyes drifted close and she fell asleep quickly, and he watched over her for some time before his eyes too closed and he joined her in sleep.

000

Sorry it took so long. It was being stubborn – the next chapter won't take as long (hopefully…)

Shiin


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